Visions of the Dead
by Sam the Ant Ha
Summary: "With my visions, every minute I was alive was a minute I could alter. There wasn't any way I could plan my future. My visions planned my future." Bella OCC. AU.
1. The Beginning

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.**

**Reviews/Favs/Alerts are all appreciated!**

* * *

It all started when I was twelve.

I was in a car accident with my mother. I can still remember her voice telling me as the blackness conquered my vision that everything was going to be fine.

The thing was, everything was not going to be fine. My life would take a huge turning point. I'd go from "normal" to "paranoid". I'd start seeing things that were way too much for my maturity level.

I'd suffer with these "visions" for the rest of my life. The visions of death.

I could look a person, picture, maybe even a video and see how a person did die or how a person will die.

Some visions were fine, death by old age and disease, but some were disturbing. Like death by assault or drugs. I still think the worst vision I have ever seen is the one I saw when I was in the hospital, because of the car accident.

My first vision, the vision of my mother dying. I remember screaming and crying. I remember telling the nurses to go see my mother immediately, but they didn't listen. They just drugged me and repeatedly whispered meaningless reassurances to me.

My mother died that night. The nurses were too busy tending to me to tend to my mother. Which is why I will forever carry the weight of thinking I am responsible for my mother's death.

They said it was a coincidence that I knew how my mother would die, but what about when I could see others' deaths and know when they would die?

That's about the time Charlie sent me off to a metal institution. He couldn't stand it. He couldn't stand it because he didn't understand it.

I would stay in the institution until I turned seventeen. I would stay there until finally the institution believed my lies, the lie being that I had just freaked out, that I was traumatized by my mother's death. Though the real reason I stayed was so I could learn how to control my fear of the visions.

The day I left the loony bin I knew as soon as I pasted through those double doors and headed into the cab, that my life would never be the same.


	2. Coming Home

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.**

**Reviews/Favs/Alerts are all very appreciated!**

* * *

Charlie smiled at me as I got off the plane. I gave him my best smile hoping it wasn't a grimace. He hugged me tightly and I did my best to show him anything. I knew I missed him, but I wasn't happy with him.

_He was the one to put me in the institution in the first place, right? He had to know what would happen didn't he?_

"Missed you, Bells." He sighed and patted my back before releasing me.

"You too, Cha-Dad." Dad was going to take some time to get used too.

I did miss him a lot even with knowing what he let happen to me. I missed everyone. When you go five years without seeing your loved ones or even a letter because _it might affect your progress_, you miss everything and anything you had before. I missed my friends. I missed my house. I missed the outside. I missed everything.

"C'mon. I have a present for you at home." He smiled at me.

_A present? What was I? Five? It was going to take more than an object to win my affection._

Charlie and I got in the police cruiser and started toward my hometown, Forks.

I bit my tongue, "You didn't have to do that, Dad." I looked straight ahead. I had difficulties when it came to showing my emotions.

"I wanted too. It's not been the same without you here, Bells." He also looked straight ahead. I wasn't sure if it was because he was making sure both eyes were on the road or if it was because he also didn't what to do when it came to emotions.

I looked out the window looking the green forest as it took me back to my memories.

OOO

"Tell me, Isabella, how does being here make you feel?" Dr. Pate asked me.

Dr. Pate was my therapist. She's the newest one. Usually they have to get new ones each year. They don't tell the patients why but I bet it had something to do with the fact most people in the loony bin were actually "loony", hardly anyone was sane.

Maybe it rubbed off on the therapists, or maybe they were lucky enough to leave before they did go nuts. Most the nurses and doctors just kept away unless they were needed, it kept them sane. I also stayed away from other patients, and it helped keep me from going crazy. Besides not wanting to catch the "crazy" I stayed away because I didn't want to know their deaths either.

"I don't like it here. I want to go home." I said simply.

"Why don't you like it here?"

I thought about it for a second, "Okay, I'll give you an example. Oranges, strawberries, blueberries, they all belong with fruit right?" She nodded and wrote something on her notepad, "Celery, green beans, carrots, they all belong with vegetables. Let's say for argument's sake that the vegetables are crazies-"

Dr. Pate glared at me, "Mentally unstable people."

"Okay, okay, the vegetables are mentally unstable yahoos." She gave me a look but I continued, "The fruits are normal people, not unstable. I'm a fruit! The reason I'm here is because I freaked, my dad overreacted and he sent me here without even asking me what was wrong. I'm not meant to be here."

"Your file says when you first got here you told your therapist you had," she flipped through some papers before continuing, "visions of death". Are you saying that you lied?"

Think Bella, think. "I didn't lie at the time. I was a little kid. I had bad dreams and when the therapist suggested visions I rolled with it." I lied casually.

"Do you still have these bad dreams?" Dr. Pate asked as she wrote.

"No."

"When did you stop having them?" She adjusted her glasses.

"I don't know, a couple of years ago." I switched my crossed legs.

"Why didn't you ever tell a therapist?" I felt like saying 'which one?', but instead I just lied.

"I tried." I sighed.

"And?" She looked up to me.

"He was really into sci-fi and thought I was lying." I shrugged it off.

"Are you lying?" She looked into my eyes.

"No." I looked right back.

TOO

"Bells? We're home." Charlie said bring me back to reality. He was stepping out of the cruiser. I got out and went to get my duffel bag from the trunk, but Charlie beat me there.

"Please, let me do it. You just got home."

I faked a smile, "Thanks."

He smiled back and got my bag carrying it into the house. He didn't seem to be phased by the extra pounds, but he could have just been trying to not look weak. He would feel it in the morning.

I walked after him and entered my home.

Nothing had changed. Everything had changed. The house itself was the same. The curtains, the table, the mismatching chairs, everything was the same. Everything was still in its same place, nothing had been moved. But at the same time, everything had changed. It was like the house was dead. It was like it had been abandoned. It reminded me of a puzzle missing pieces. I had been added to the puzzle, but mom was the final piece that we never would get back. The thought depressed me.

I turned to Charlie. I suddenly saw the differences instantly. His eyes had lost their sparkle. His smile was as fake as mine was. His hair was displaced. His clothes were winkled. He too, was changed.

As I made this observation, I made a decision. I would patch our family up again and would fix it. I would make Charlie happy again and I would make this house a home.

I spoke to Charlie as he came back down the stairs from my bedroom to drop off my duffel, "I'm sorry, Dad." He looked upset, surprised, and happy all at once and came over to me.

"Don't worry about it, Bells, it's not your fault." I wrapped my arms around him.

"I'll make this better, Dad. I love you."

He sounded like he was choking, "I love you too, Bells."

I felt a couple of tears stream down my cheek.

OOO

There was a knock at the front door, I turned to Charlie who was sitting next to me watching the game on television, "I'll get it I guess?" I said looking at him for some answer.

"Uh huh." Was all I got from him. I chuckled to myself and answer the door. I was greeted by a dark-skinned man in a wheelchair and a younger version of the man smiling at me.

"Hiya, Bella!" The man in the wheelchair said. He started to wheel himself in, and I stepped aside to let the guys both in.

"Um, hi?" I looked in confusion at the man and then to the boy.

The younger vision laughed at my expression, "Hi, I'm Jacob." I smiled a little at him, still trying to figure out who he was exactly.

"I'm Bella."

He grinned back at me and entered the kitchen, "I know, you used to play with my older sisters at La Push, remember?"

I thought about that, it came back to me, "Rachel and Rebecca?" He nodded still smiling.

So then this was little baby Jacob? Wow. He really did grow up. That must mean that, that's Billy.

Billy was now sitting in the living room cheering with Charlie.

Jacob and I sat at the kitchen table. I looked up only to meet his eyes and a vision took over.

OOO

"Is he gone?" I saw a bronze-headed girl tearing up beside the bed where an old Jacob laid.

A beautiful, blond doctor came and stood next to her laying his hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry, Nessie."

The girl, Nessie screamed in agony and threw herself onto the floor.

Two other beautiful people came into the room, one knelt beside the girl, picked her up, and rocked her. She reminded me of a mother figure, the only thing is she looked about the same age as the girl. I wished I could see the two beautiful people's faces, but it seemed I only got their backs, like Nessie. The other one, a man and walked to Jacob, he put a hand on his shoulder, like the doctor had done to Nessie, but quietly whispered, "Goodbye, my son."

Nessie sobbed even harder.

OOO

"-BELLA? BEEEEELLLLLLA! HELLOO?"

I snapped out of my vision, "Sorry, I zoned out."

"Yeah, I'll say. Why were you zeroing in at my chest though?" I noticed my face was aimed at his chest as were my eyes.

I felt my cheeks burn at my own stupidity. I probably did it unconsciously, or at least I hope I did.

"I mean, I don't mind, but I was curious." I looked up to see Jacob's cheeks flushed too.

_Oh no. Let's not get the wrong idea._

I quickly redeemed myself, "I didn't mean too. I'm sorry."

"No worries." He seemed like a person who was just at ease with everything, maybe he'd be a good influence on me.

I changed the subject before his chest got involved somehow.

"So do you come over here a lot?"

"Naw, usually I just drive Dad over then I leave to go hang out on the rez."

"Do you go to school over there too?"

"Yep."

I felt my smile turn to a frown, I knew I was going to Forks High School. I went to school over here before, and I doubted Charlie was going to let me go to school over there.

"What's wrong?" He must have noticed my dismay.

"Oh nothing, it just would have been nice to know one person."

Jacob nodded, "I can come over whenever if you want, you know like after school and we could be homework buds . . . "

I laughed, "Thanks, Jacob. I just might take you up on that."

Jacob and I continued to chat for the next couple of hours about everything. I was not expecting the next topic to come up, but it did.

"Why were you at your aunt's for so long?" He looked at me in serious interest.

"My aunt's?" I asked confused.

"Yeah, Charlie said when you were leaving you were going to your aunt's to live for awhile. To me, awhile is an understatement."

Charlie lied for me? Or maybe he just didn't want to be known as the guy with the crazy daughter, "Yeah, I made some friends over there and it was hard to leave them. Plus, I had really gotten attached to my aunt. She was like a mother to me." I babbled on.

Jacob nodded, "It's hard losing your mom."

At least we had that in common, both our mothers died. Not something to look brightly upon, but at least we knew how each other felt about it.

"I... I still dream about the car crash some nights." I whispered. My voice trembled a little.

Jacob took one of my hands in both of his. His hands felt so warm in mine, it was nice.

I looked up to meet his eyes again. He smiled at me. I tried to smile, but all I could do was grimace.

"Hey, how about me and you go somewhere one day? Hiking, shopping, whatever you want." He really must want to cheer me up.

"Shopping, Jacob? Really?"

He laughed at the sarcasm.

"Whatever you want." He repeated.

"Let me think that over and I'll get back to you."

_Before you get the wrong idea._

I heard my Dad and Jacob's dad coming in the kitchen.

I saw Jacob's dad giving him a raised eyebrow. I looked confused at Jacob who was grinning widely.

Dad spoke up first, "Jake, you sure are smooth, aren't you?" He looked pointedly at our entwined hands.

I immediately took my hands away from Jacob's. I felt my cheeks felt hot again at how wrong everything was turning out tonight. Between my dad and his dad making the comments and then me and my stupid zoning I'd be surprised if Jacob still thought I was only interested in being his friend.

"Well Jake and I better head out, see ya for the next game." Billy said to Charlie and me. I nodded a little miffed. Billy rolled out the door. Charlie went out to the porch to talk about something private I imagined, or maybe just to say goodbye.

_Did they come over every time there was a game? _I felt beyond confused and turned to Jacob asking him.

"Our TV is broken." Jacob explained.

"Oh, well I guess I'll see you soon." This news brought some happiness to me, at least I made a friend.

"Yeah, well later Bells." Jacob didn't even conceal his excitement. I felt a little bad, I think I had led him on unintentionally.

"Bye, Jacob."

Jacob walked out the door and I heard a truck start up. I sighed a sunk lower into my kitchen chair.

On the bright side I made a friend, sort of. Usually friends told each other the truth though. I doubt I could tell him about my past, not yet at least. How could you tell somebody about you being in a metal institution though? How do you drop that bomb?

So really he was Bella's friend. Bella, the one who doesn't see visions and who hasn't done anything wrong. Isabella had made no friends. Isabella, who did see visions and could do no right.

_Ugh! If I keep this up, I'm going to have another headache!_

I decided I'd tell Jacob eventually about me, when we became better friends. I went back into the living room to relax.

Charlie and I watched some comedy on the television. I decided to ask him about the "aunt" thing.

"So I talked to Jacob." I started, but it had the negative effect.

Charlie chuckled, "Yeah, I saw." _Was it really that bad?_

"It's not like that," I scowled at him when he smirked, "he was talking to me about when I left."

"And?" His eyes moved from the TV screen to connect with mine.

"I moved in with my aunt?" Charlie, nor my mom had any siblings, that's why I found the aunt thing bizarre.

"I was on the spot, and I wasn't sure when you came back that you were going to want to be the talk of the town."

"Well thanks, I was just sort of stunned when I heard you lied." I smirked trying to get him back for the Jacob jab.

"I lie." He sniffed.

"Not well." I laughed at his expression.

He rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded like 'one to talk'.

I yawned, "It's getting late, I'm going to head off to bed." I leaned down and kissed his forehead. He gave me an awkward hug, but the intention was clear.

"Alright Bells, night."

"Night, Dad."

I headed up the stairs to the bathroom. I took a shower, put on my pajamas, and went to bed hoping that tomorrow would pass as quickly as possible.


	3. First Day

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.**

**Reviews/Favs/Alerts are always appreciated!**

* * *

I woke up the next morning groggily. I rubbed my eyes and yawned.

Today was the day. My first day. I thought over the possible outcomes that could happen today. One, I could have a normal day and it could pass without incident -of course for it to pass without incident I would have to avoid all eye contact- or two, I could have a stressed day and experience every body's death that way the next day could be fairly normal. So, either get the deaths out of the way or forever avoid eye contact.

There also was a third option though, I could also take it all gradually. A few deaths at a time, but at the way that would go by the end of the school year I'd finally be done with everyone's death at the same time, I would have ruined the school year.

I got up and made my bed thinking over the pros and cons of each argument. I started leaning toward the "getting all deaths out of the way" idea. I could always blame being nervous and jumpy for zoning off in space. Or I could always just admit I was a freak.

_Yeah, right._

I took a shower and got myself dressed. While I was brushing my teeth, I thought about the worst case scenario that could happen: to see something totally abnormal in a death and end up screaming bloody murder. I laughed at this, by now I was use to abnormal deaths. I had been to a mental institution, hadn't I?

Every day there were people that would contemplate graphic deaths, which for me was just fantastic to see, it was like a freakin' horror movie in your head that you couldn't look away from.

I brushed my hair and put a headband on and went downstairs. I was surprised to see Charlie looking at me from the kitchen table glancing over the newspaper, he set it down and looked at me.

_Wasn't he suppose to be at work?_

"Hey, Bells I wanted to show you your gift before I headed off." He grinned in anticipation.

_Oh yes, the very little talked about gift._

I knew it couldn't be medication, I check in my bathroom last night and it was already there, Charlie must not want me to hear the voices in my head either.

_How thoughtful._

"My gift?" I questioned warily.

He gestured me to follow and soon enough we were outside in front of an old truck that yesterday I assumed to be Charlie's.

_Was this it? He couldn't have . . . _

"Bells, say hello to your new truck!" He grinned at me.

I felt a grin take over my face. I couldn't explain why I liked the truck except for the fact it was so much like me. Beaten around, not perfect, but still in good condition.

"Hello, baby!" I giggled once and opened the truck door. Charlie came around and looked at me laughing at my excitement.

"You like it?"

"Like it? I love it! Thanks dad!" His face brightened.

He looked at his watch, "I got to go, I'll see you at dinner!" He hopped into the cruiser. As he was backing out of the driveway I went into the house and grabbed my backpack. I locked the door on my way out and headed into the truck.

I started the truck up which growled to life, I jumped at the sound, but chuckled. I backed out of the driveway and drove to school. I parked in front a small building at the high school that had a sign that read: FRONT OFFICE over a door. I got out of the car and walked into the office.

I walked up to a red-haired woman wearing glasses behind the main desk.

She looked up to meet my eyes, "Can I help-"

Her words were cut off by a vision.

OOO

The red-haired woman looked a few years older than she did now, she was pushing a buggy out of a store full of products that she must have just bought. She was humming to herself, seeming cheerful.

All of a sudden, a SUV out of nowhere, comes speeding right toward her. She sees the vehicle and starts screaming at the top of her lungs. The car tries to slam on the brakes, but it's too close to the woman.

Then the vehicle slams right into her sending her a few feet backwards. The car stops and I can see people running out of the store to see what the commotions about. The woman's dead.

OOO

"Hello! Miss? Hello?" I snapped back to reality and felt all color drain out of my cheeks.

_Good mood, finito._

"Sorry, nervous," I lied, "I'm Isabella Swan." I recovered.

She gave me a sympathetic smile as she started digging through files, she came up with some papers. She explained my schedule to me and highlighted the best route for me to get to each class on a map. She also gave me a slip to have each of my teachers sign and return back to the office at the end of the day.

I walked out of the office and got back into my truck. I followed the line of traffic to a parking lot. I smiled to see that all the cars were a lot like mine, nothing too big or flashy, the nicest car here was a Volvo. I turned off the truck as soon as I got a spot. I looked over my map and got out of. I started toward building three, thank god they painted those numbers on the buildings.

I went into the classroom and walked to the teacher. I read the nameplate that identified him as Mr. Mason. He gawked at my name, but signed my slip all the same. I walked over to the empty desk and sat down. I looked over the reading list, it was fairly simple, I had read it all before, they gave me this stuff to read when I was in the institution.

I was slightly surprised they'd give me anything to read, but I guess when they saw that I was a fairly-normal person they decided to let me further my education, so I "home-schooled".

The bell rang interrupting my thoughts, I got up and ended up right in front of a gangly boy with skin problems and hair black as an oil slick.

He smiled at me, "You're Isabella-"

His sentence was cut off by a vision.

I saw an old man who reminded me slightly of the oil-slick boy, he was surrounded by people who I was going to assume were his family. One old woman was holding his hand. His eyelids fluttered as he mumbled, "I love you."

The woman holding his hand smiled, "I love you too, Eric."

He smiled slightly and the monitor stopped and the loud beep took over all the noise in the room.

The woman was still holding Eric's hand and had tears streaming down her face.

"Isabella! Are you all right?"

I jumped at his tone and blushed, "Yeah, sorry, nerves are a little messed up today."

He gave me a smile, "I'm Eric."

"Call me Bella."

"Bella, okay. Where's your next class?"

I dug through my bag and pulled out my sheet with my schedule, "Um, Government, with Jefferson, in building six."

"I'm heading toward building four, I could show you the way . . . "

"Thanks." I gave him a slight smile.

We headed back outside and Eric started up a conversation, "So, I heard you use to live with your aunt."

"Yep." I lied.

"Where was that?"

"...Arizona." I mentally smacked myself for not coming up with a state that I was familiar with.

"Wow, it doesn't rain much there does it?" _I don't think so . . . _

"Nope."

"Must be hot?" _I don't know!_

"It is."

"You don't look very tan." He said as he studied me.

"I'm part albino." I smiled sarcastically.

He laughed and I joined in. That was good, at least I still knew how to use sarcasm.

He led me around the cafeteria, to the south buildings by the gym. Eric walked me to the right door, although I could clearly identify it because it was marked.

"Well good luck," he said as I opened the door, "Maybe we'll have some classes together." I couldn't help but hear the hope in his tone and I was reminded of what happened last night with Jacob.

I nodded, "Maybe."

I went inside the building and went into my Trigonometry class. I went up to the teacher who introduced himself as Mr. Varner. He told me to introduce myself to the class.

"Uh, hi. I'm Bella and uh, I'm from Arizona." I blushed and stammered, I thanked the gods that was over only to trip over my own boots as I walked to my seat.

After a few classes, I began to recognize a couple of faces. There was always somebody who'd be brave enough to come up to me and introduce themselves and ask me about how I liked being in Forks, I was happy I didn't have to lie a lot because I _was_ happy to be back in Forks.

One girl seemed to be in a couple of my classes -Trig and Spanish- she walked me to the cafeteria and never stopped talking. I was glad I didn't have to contribute to it much, just smile and nod followed by a couple of 'uh huh's and 'no way's. She had wild, curly hair and was shorter than me, but her hair seemed to make up for it.

We sat at the end of a full table with a few of her friends. I forgot their names, just as I forgot hers, the only one I seemed to know was Eric from English who waved at me from across the lunchroom. I gave a small wave back.

I tried to make some conversation with these new strangers and that's when I noticed them.

They were sitting in a corner of the cafeteria, as far away from where I sat as possible in the long room. There were five of them. They weren't talking, and they weren't eating, though they each had a tray of untouched food. They weren't gawking at me like most students, so I felt safe to look at them without meeting their eyes and seeing their future deaths.

They all were perfect, I think that's what got my attention, that and the fact they didn't look alike at all. Of the three boys, there was one who looked like he was a serious weight lifter, he had dark curly hair. Another was taller and leaner, but still muscular, he had honey blond hair. The last boy was lanky, less bulky, with untidy, bronzed-colored hair. I found myself wishing I could run my hands through-

_WHAT THE HELL! BELLA STOP!_

I took a deep breath and let it out.

The girls were opposites the boys. The tall one was statuesque, she had a kind of figure that made every girl in the room take a hit on her self-esteem. Her hair was golden and wavy. The other girl was short and pixie like. She was very thin and had small features. I wish I could shove a couple of Twinkies down her throat, she looked so small and thin, I didn't think I needed visions to know how she was going to die. Her hair was deep black, cropped short, and pointed in every direction.

What surprised me the most was that they were all pale. Paler than any other student I had seen, paler than me, the albino. Their eyes in contrast to their skin seemed darker, I couldn't be sure, but at the same time I didn't want to meet their eyes. They seemed to have dark, purplish bruise-like shadows under their eyes.

_Maybe they were tired._

I turned back to the girl who was talkative, "Who are they?"

She looked up to see who I was talking about. Then she turned back to me meeting my eyes.

"Those are-"

I was cut off by yet again, another vision.

A really old woman -who hardly looked a thing like the girl I had been talking to, except for the curly white hair- was rocking in a chair watching some show on TV. Her eyes shut for a second then flickered opened then shut again. The rocking ceased and she sat still. She died a peaceful death.

"Bella? Hello? Are you even listening to me?" She snapped annoyed.

I looked at her and I shook my head, "Sorry, tired." I faked a yawn.

"Anyways, those are the Cullens."

"They don't sound familiar."

"They just moved here from Alaska, don'tcha know." She laughed.

I laughed at her accent clutching my stomach and keeping my head down. The girl smiled at me, I could feel a lot of eyes on her and me.

She continued to explain, "There's Emmett, Edward, and Alice Cullen. Then there is Rosalie and Jasper Hale."

"Are they related?"

"Only the Hales, they're twins, the blonds. They're all adopted by Dr. Cullen and his wife. Dr. Cullen works at the hospital."

"They adopted all teenagers?" I asked curiously.

"No, I think they adopted them when they were younger, I think that the Hales are somehow related to Mrs. Cullen though."

"It's nice for them to take all those children in, with them being young and all."

"Whatever floats their boat I guess." She shrugged.

I turned to look at the Cullens and saw the lanky boy looking directly into my eyes.

I heard Jessica giggle, "That's Edward he's-"

I was cut off by a vision . . .


	4. Hospital Visit

**Disclaimer: *checks wallet* No, I don't own Twilight.**

**Reviews/Favs/Alerts are appreciated.**

**PS: Sorry it took awhile to update guys, tried to figure out just how Bella was going to react.**

* * *

OOO

A sickly-looking Edward laid in a hospital bed that looked like a mat with sticks holding it up. He seemed to be the same age as he was now. A beautiful, blond doctor came into the room, he seemed familiar. I got a load of his face, perfect features complimented by pale skin and butterscotch eyes.

He bent down to Edward and bit his neck. Edward's eyes snapped open as he screamed.

His eyes were a brilliant green. They were almost hypnotic.

The doctor leaned away and put a fist against his mouth watching Edward scream and thrash in pain.

OOO

"Bella? Are you okay? Bella?" I heard someone say, they sounded very faint to me.

"Hey is she going to be-"

I was swallowed by darkness before I got to even hear the rest of the sentence.

I woke up slowly, as if I were underwater. I managed to get my eyes open only to meet Charlie's worried ones. Normally that would have thrown me into a vision but I had already seen Charlie's death before. I didn't know exactly everything about my visions, but I knew that if I saw some body's death once, I would never have to see their death ever again, unless it changed its course.

For instants, Charlie was going to be shot while busting some people who were breaking into a store. Let's say, he got sick that night of the breaking and entering, then the vision would change, so the next time I looked into Charlie's eyes, I would see another death. Not too often though did people get to cheat death, and those that did were often considered miracles.

"Bella, honey, are you okay?" His tone matched his eyes. How long had I been out?

I tried out my voice, "Daddy?" It sounded weak and scared, I immediately regretted saying anything because my tone killed Charlie even further.

"Oh honey, I was so scared. I thought I lost you. You weren't waking up and-"

I stopped listening. I had only fainted, right? Fainted, why did I faint again? I thought back, and I remembered lunch . . . the girl in Spanish class explaining the Cullens . . . Edward.

_Edward . . . _

The vision. I didn't understand it, all I knew was that I was afraid for him. How does somebody die of biting? How can one bite kill someone?

It didn't make any sense to me. All I knew was that doctor, the beautiful blond in my vision, was trouble. He seemed so familiar too. I've never met him, this I was sure. Had I seen him in any other visions?

I thought back to Mrs. Cope's, Eric's, and the Spanish class girl's.

No, he wasn't in those. Was that the only visions I've had since I've arrived here?

I remembered coming home with Charlie, meeting Billy again and . . . Jacob.

Jacob . . . on a hospital bed dead while the blond doctor patted a young girl's arm, the bronze-haired girl named Nessie, the visions with the other two beautiful people, although I didn't get to see their faces either.

_Was this blond guy even a doctor? He dressed like one, but what was he really though? A cannibal?_

"Hello, Ms. Swan. I'm Dr. Cullen." That voice. I broke from my train of thought to look right into the eyes of Mr. Cannibal himself. I felt ice cold fear run up and down my spine. My breathing became very fast. I was hyperventilating. My heart increased in speed. The heart monitor was beeping wildly.

Then I was swallowed up by a vision.

OOO

_Dr. Cullen was leading a mob of angry people with pitchforks and torches into a downtown area. Some of the people in the mob seemed frightened by what was about to happen, but not Dr. Cullen, he seemed like the bravest one of the bunch. Suddenly, some sort of human-like demon ran from a sewer and attack him. The mob fled, some managed to live, but some were torn and ripped to shreds. I suddenly was close up to Dr. Cullen and saw his bright, blue eyes in pain as he crawled away._

OOO

"Miss Swan, please calm down!" Dr. Cullen/Cannibal told me coming around the bed.

"DAD! HELP ME!" I shrieked. I didn't like the doctor being so close to me.

"Bells! Calm down! He's not going to hurt you. He's going to help you." Charlie said taking my hand rubbing it gently at an attempt to calm me down. I would have applauded this if it wasn't for the fact that I was scared as hell. Charlie reassured me for a couple of minutes and I got my breathing under control, but my heartbeat didn't slow, nor did the fear completely go away.

"Miss Swan, I'm only here to make sure that you're fine." The doctor gave me a brilliant, white smile.

"I am so not fine." I muttered so only I could hear as I kept my head lowered.

"How so?" he asked.

I snapped my head up, "What?" There was no way he could have heard that.

"How are you 'not fine'?" He kept his look professional and glanced at his clipboard reading it over then focused back to me.

"I'm in a hospital bed, and I don't think that equals fine." I tried to not sound rude, but it was hard not too. Charlie gave me a look, but I ignored it.

"Well of course not, let's figure out the problem and you'll be out of here in no time at all."

"Right." I agreed nodding once.

"Some of your friends at school say that you were staring off into space and then you fainted," He analyzed me, "Did you eat today?"

_Brilliant! Thank you, Dr. Excuse Maker!_

I pretended to look irritated, "I forgot, this morning I was trying to get ready and it totally slipped my mind, then at lunch none of the food looked especially good so I was going to skip the meal . . . oh I'm so stupid!" I dropped my head in my hands to add effect.

Dr. Excuse Maker/Cannibal/Cullen continued on, "Did something surprise you at lunch?"

_Yes, a vision._

"No. I'm just overwhelmed by being new and all." I lifted my head and feigned a look that could be identified as loathing.

He nodded again, "I think if you just make sure to eat something in the mornings you'll be fine. Okay?"

"Yes, I will, thank you, Dr. Cannibal."

He looked at me stunned. Then it slowly turned to a worried look and his eyebrows scrunched up assessing me once again.

"Cullen! Dr. Cullen! Sorry." A blush heated my cheeks as I realized my own mistake.

He nodded and unhooked me from the machine and a nurse came in to take care of the rest. Dr. Cullen took my father outside to discuss something while I waited for the nurse to finish up.

I felt Charlie's eyes bore a hole in the side of my head as he walked out the doorway and I knew I was going to have some explaining to do when I got home.

OOO

Charlie was silent the whole ride home, and I brooded while looking out the window thinking over my memories of being in the institution.

OOO

"Isabella have you ever taken any drugs?" My therapist asked seriously.

This therapist, Dr. Paine -ironically enough- was my first one, I recall that I was twelve. I also was scared to the extreme. I was scared of this place and scared of my visions.

"No."

She looked up at me, "Really?" Back then I didn't think it was funny, but now I looked back and shook my head at Dr. Paine . . . a twelve-year-old on drugs? Really, Paine?

"Yes." I looked into her eyes.

"Well Isabella we've been over the whole entire list. You've said no to each and every question. Yet still you say you have visions."

"I do have visions-"

"'Of death' . . . yes, I know. If you really do have them then why don't I test it out?" She took a picture frame off her desk and gave it to me.

"See the one on the right? The old woman?"

I nodded.

"She was my mother. Do you know what she died from?" She seemed to be cocky as if she thought I was lying and she would prove me wrong.

I examined the picture. The woman didn't look to old. Maybe sixty. I looked her over and zoned into her eyes.

OOOO

An older woman, a little bit older than the woman in the picture, was climbing down stairs. She accidentally tripped and fell head first down the flight of stairs. She crumpled at the bottom. The lady was broken, bleeding, and now dead.

OOOO

I snapped back to reality. Dr. Paine was looking at me carefully, assessing my expressions probably.

"How recent is this picture?" I asked grimacing at what I'd just seen.

"It's from Christmas." She answered.

"She's not dead. She will be though, maybe in a few years." I sighed giving her the picture back. When my hands were free, they started twitching, needing something to do. I mentally calculated different math problems that my tutor and I went over yesterday. These were my usual distractions from the visions.

Dr. Paine looked shocked and stunned, "How?"

"She falls down stairs." I said absentmindedly still calculating. Square roots were the hardest for me right now.

Dr. Paine shuddered and excused herself to go call her mother.

OOO

Charlie stepped out of the car and the slam of the door broke me from my memories. I watch as he starts walking up to the house. I got out of the car slowly and followed him. I'm starting to feel the effects of not eating taking over me. My back starts to hurt and my stomach twists and turns. I sighed and sat at one of the kitchen chairs.

Charlie makes a couple of sandwiches and hands one to me. He sits across from me eating his. After taking a few bites, I feel better, my back doesn't hurt as badly as it did before but my stomach is still gurgling as I eat.

"That was a stupid stunt you tried to pull Bella." He scolds me.

"Sorry, dad." Might as well let him get it out of his system.

"Why did you do it? Do you think you're not thin enough?"

I didn't meet his eyes, pretending to have an eating disorder will be better than telling him about the visions.

"Bella, you're beautiful." Charlie tells me.

I look up to meet his eyes startled.

"Thanks, Dad."

We continue to eat our sandwiches. He finishes first and opens the frig and pulls out some cheesecake. He cuts two big slices and comes back to the table. He pushes one slice my way. I shake my head and push it back.

"Bells, eat the damn cheesecake." He pushes it back to me.

I sigh and start eating, "Did you make it Dad?" It tasted good.

He laughs at me, "Nope, Sue Clearwater. She lives down at the rez."

I nod even though I have no clue who it is.

Charlie and I finish eating and I head upstairs. I take a shower and go to bed.

I didn't fall asleep though, I continue to think about Edward's eyes in my vision for some reason. Those glorious green eyes. Then I would think about Dr. Cullen and his blue eyes. Then something feels off. I compare visions. Dr. Cullen's eyes were blue in his vision, then gold in Edward's vision, they also were gold today. Did he wear contacts? I felt something in my gut tighten but I ignored it.

That was the first night I dreamt of Edward Cullen.


	5. Playing Hooky

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.**

**Reviews/Favs/Alerts are always appreciated.**

* * *

I woke up wondering where I was. I rolled over and ended somehow on the floor. Pain shot through my back.

"Ow." I whispered. I got up, took my shower, and got dressed. I made my bed and brush out my hair. I went down the stairs and walked into the kitchen. Right there smacked on the fridge in Charlie's handwriting was "**Eat, Bells.**" I rolled my eyes and snagged a granola bar.

Remember Bella, him thinking you have an eating disorder will be better than him finding out you can still "see" people's deaths.

I got myself a glass of water and took my medication out of the cabinet. I swallowed one pill and drank some of my water, I didn't take the full dose age, I was trying to cut down. I think I can control Isabella. I wished for a second I had somebody who was there for me, to help me through this. Then I remembered what I was and stopped wishing. I had to remember I wasn't the only freak out there though. My mind flashed back to the visions of Dr. Cullen and Edward. I couldn't help the shiver that ran up and down my spine. I still had no clue what was going to kill them.

Maybe they have a relationship further than father and son. Maybe they like to love bite each other. Yeah, and one day Dr. Cullen takes a bite too far.

_Secret lovers. Yeah . . . right._ _This is Dr. Cullen your talking about. He's perfect! Perfect wife and perfect kids._

_A little too perfect don'tcha think, Bell?_

I shut Isabella out quickly. I turned my thoughts back to the Cullens.

I felt a twinge of envy. I bet those kids were close with their family and could tell them anything. Unlike me.

_Oh shut up, Bella! Your dad has been nothing but nice to you since you've returned. He's been watching out for you and loves you . . . _

_But he won't ever understand you._

I felt tears coming down my cheeks, I slammed my head backwards against the wall and slid down. I curled my arms around my legs and propped my head on my knees.

I didn't want to go to school. I didn't want to see the Cullens. I didn't want to see anybody. I deserved to die.

I don't know how long I stayed like that thinking over everything and anything I had done that had been a screw up. I thought over every vision I ever had, forcing myself to look at the death no matter how graphic as a way to punish myself. I also thought about mom which also punished me. I felt responsible for her death and being reminded of her was like somebody stabbing and clawing at my heart.

I didn't end up going to school that day. I didn't want to tell Charlie that though. So what did I do when he came home?

"Hey, honey? You okay?" Charlie asked hanging up his gun.

By now I was at the kitchen table, pretending to read a random book I had picked up off my bookshelf only moments before.

"Yeah, fine." I lied.

"How was school?"

I looked up to him and smiled brightly, "Great! I ended up remembering my friends' names! I even got invited to go to this party!" I was no doubt, the smoothest liar of all time.

"That's great, honey! You want to go out to dinner to celebrate?" Charlie took the bait.

"Sure!" My stomach growled in agreement. I had forgotten to eat again today. Charlie took me out to a small diner that he, mom, and I always use to go too. I put on a brave face. We ordered what we used to always order, hamburgers and fries. We had small talk while we ate, when we finished we were just about to leave when out of nowhere Spanish class girl shows up.

"ISABELLA!" She yelled. I turned automatically to see her jogging to me smiling.

"Where were you today? It was so boring." My luck from today dissolved. Charlie turned his head toward mine and I kept my head down as I replied.

"I didn't feel well, so I decided not to go."

I could tell she was faking concern by her tone of voice, "I hope you feel better."

"I do too." I muttered walking away from an angry Charlie and confused Spanish class girl. I opened the door to the cruiser and got in. Charlie got into the car too. He turned to me and looked blank.

"Care to explain?" His tone took me off guard, it was quiet, I was expecting him to blow a fuse.

I shrugged trying to put a quick lie together in my mind. I could see his face twisting and turning different shades of red. As if he couldn't control the rage anymore, he shouted at me.

"WHAT THE HELL, BELLA? YOU TOLD ME YOUR GOING TO MAKE THIS ALL BETTER!" The fuse was blown. Charlie's face was a scary purple.

I took a deep breath, and I checked my temper. No need to scream at Charlie. He's not going to make the visions go away.

"DON'T YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY, BELLS? MAYBE ANOTHER LIE TO SPIT OUT TO ME!"

"I'm sorry, Dad." Temper check, temper check.

"SORRY ISN'T GOING TO MAKE IT ALL BETTER!"

I lost it, "You ignorant idiot! Do you think I don't know that? And you know what? I LIED TO YOU BECAUSE I KNEW IF I TOLD YOU THE TRUTH, I'D END UP IN THAT HELLHOLE AGAIN! SO NEXT TIME CHARLIE, WHY DON'T YOU JUST ACCEPT THE LIES AND SMILE? IT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING FOR YEARS AND GUESS WHAT CHARLIE? IT WORKS!" I wasn't yelling. I was screaming.

I ended the rant by opening the car door, seeing my audience of drivers and people going to and from the restaurant, including Spanish class girl, and running off into the woods behind the diner. I faintly heard Charlie yelling my name. I kept running further and further into the woods to the point I knew I was royally screwed. I had no sense of direction. I knew there were dangerous animals in the woods, but I just felt so peaceful. Maybe God has decided to cut me some slack and let me die now.

I dropped down in the middle of a beautiful meadow. I knew in just a couple of hours it would be pitch dark, but I didn't care. Instead I lied down and let sleep find me.

I woke up to a beautiful noise, "Hello?" It sounded like velvet. I opened my eyes to see a glorious face looking down at me. Perfect face, perfect body, and perfect voice. Edward Cullen. As I looked up at his face in awe, I noticed his eyes were pitch black, that wasn't something I was expecting. I didn't get a look at his eyes at lunch before I fainted, but in my vision they were quite clearly a beautiful, emerald green.

"Edward Cullen?" I asked sitting up to get a better look at his face.

He didn't smile, but didn't frown either. I felt my breathing hitch and had to looked away in order to remember how to breathe.

"Yes, how did you know me though?" His voice turned his question into music.

I shrugged looking back at him, "Good guess?" I lied.

"Right." He smirked slightly. I noticed as I got up he moved away a couple of feet. Strange.

"Where am I?" I asked looking around, taking in my surroundings.

"A meadow. How did you know how to get here?" He seemed curious and slightly . . . aggravated?

"I didn't. I just ran."

"Acting on impulse?"

"Yeah, usually gets me in trouble. By the way, I probably am in a lot of that now. I'm sure Charlie's going to lock me in my room." I sighed.

He stiffened at my sigh and stepped another foot away. This was getting weird, "I usually have that problem too. Acting on impulse." He murmured loud enough for me to hear. He seemed in deep thought.

"I bet yours wasn't a death wish though." I muttered lowly.

"Was yours?" He looked up startled.

_There was no way he could have heard that! I mean I barely hear it myself!_

"...Yes." I said unwillingly. Why was I telling him all this? Like he cared.

On the contrary, he seemed really interested . . . like he did care. He looked like he was thinking really hard about something. He ran a hand through his beautiful bronze hair. He looked up noticing my ogling and I blushed looking away.

"Isabella-" He started.

"Bella." I corrected.

The slight smirk returned for a second before completely disappearing again. "Bella, why would you want to die? What do you have that's so bad that you need death to escape it?"

My breathing hitched again, but not because of his looks this time. It hitched because if I screw up for one second and said something I shouldn't, Edward will have me read like an open book.

"Nothing." I said quickly.

He sounded curious now, "What do you have that's so bad, Bella?"

I looked up, to meet his black eyes, and cast my gaze downward, "I'm supposed to be dead." I spat angrily.

"Dead? You?" He asked.

"Yes, with my mother. I'm suppose to be rotting in freakin' Forks cemetery with her! But instead I have to live each day of the rest of my life in Hell!" I was so angry I was shaking, I met his eyes again he look confused. He probably thought I was just some teenager with anger issues. I closed my eyes trying to reign in some control. Once I had, I opened my eyes again. I had no need to waste his or my time any longer.

"Unless you can kill me, can you please point me in the right direction to town." I asked him. It was suppose to be a joke, but because of what I'd just said, it sounded like I was suicidal.

He froze.

"Edward . . . ?" I asked.

Still frozen.

"Edward!" I was getting scared, he didn't look like he was breathing.

He unfroze and met my eyes.

"Are you all right?"

He nodded mutely and pointed behind me, "That's the way to town."

"Thanks." I nodded at him and headed off in the direction he pointed me too.

Some might say it was a stupid lapse in judgement to trust another with your own life, I would just say what life have I got left? I didn't regret taking Edward's directions.

I did however, realize when I had been walking for at least an hour that Edward might be darker than I originally thought, because this didn't look like town . . .


	6. He Knows

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.**

**Reviews/Favs/Alerts are always appreciated.**

* * *

Just because I didn't regret taking Edward's directions didn't mean I wasn't pissed off when I was walking to basically nowhere. I felt a range of emotions as I entered through yet another part of the woods. I had been walking for a while now and still had not seen a bit of town. I was lost. This wasn't town. Edward had given me wrong directions.

_Why? What had I even done to him? I saw his creepy death and sure I saw him when I woke up in the meadow, but had I offended him? No. I did nothing to deserve this. Edward was just a jerk._

I ended up in a clearing. It was shaped like a large circle. After a few yards I could see that the woods started up again. I saw Edward standing in the middle of the clearing next to a large Jeep.

_What was he doing here? Is this some joke? I'll give him a piece of my mind! I'll teach him to mess with Isabella Marie Swan!_

I stomped toward him infuriated. "What the hell, Edward?"

His eyes widened as he took in my tone and expression. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me! What! The! Hell!" I repeated rudely.

"I don't understand you . . . " He actually did look confused. This irked me even more.

"Yeah . . . right," I snorted, "I walked for God knows how long and I did not find town! Are you playing some prank on the new girl or something? If you are, let me tell you something, it's not funny!"

His face turned serious. "You've been walking for less than an hour."

"How do you know?"

"I... hike a lot." His eyes regarded me carefully. I took a step in his direction. He took one back.

_Punk._

"I was going to give you a ride. Back to town. It was much to long to walk all the way back to your house." He explained.

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. "Why?" _You know where I live?_

He shrugged. "Just being friendly, I suppose."

I glanced over to the monster Jeep, "This is yours," I looked back to meet his eyes, "No offense you just don't look like the . . . off-road type."

He gave me a slight smile that I liked way too much. It made me lose my breath. "Actually this is my brother's and don't judge a book by its cover Bella, you of all people should know that."

_Me of all people?_

I pondered his comment for a minute. "Did you just insult me?" His face became guarded.

"Get in the car, Bella." He changed the subject and came around opening the passenger's door. When I didn't move, he gestured me to get in. I felt my anger rising again.

_What was with this guy? Why was he so controlling? Better yet, why did I let him be so controlling?_

"No," I said stubbornly, "Not until you tell me whether or not you insulted me."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I didn't mean for you to take it that way Bella. I merely meant to say that you should know how it feels to be judged, do you not?"

I was taken aback. Was he talking about what I think he's talking about? He couldn't possibly know about me going to the institution.

"I don't know what your talking about. I've not been misjudged." I replied heatedly and jumped up into the truck. I stumbled and he caught me steadying me before letting go.

"Thanks." I muttered as I blushed.

_He couldn't have known about my past. There was no way._

He came around the side of the Jeep and got in. He rolled down his window and glanced at me, "It's hot today." It didn't seem that hot to me, to be nice though, I rolled down my window too. He started up the car and starting driving down the pathway that was cleared. The trail seemed to last for hours, mainly because any attempts of small talk that he tried I didn't answer to. I couldn't shake the feeling he knew who I was and what I had done. I finally couldn't bare it. I needed to know if he knew my secret.

"Edward, what do you know about me?" I asked quietly. I doubted he could hear my question I had spoke so low. I cleared my throat and was going to repeat it louder when he answered.

"I know some things about you." He sounded nonchalant.

_Super freaky hearing. He and his father both._

"What do you know?" I worded my question carefully and glanced at his face.

"I know your name," I rolled my eyes at him, he chuckled once, "I know your father, and some things about your past." He shrugged and looked over at me.

I was momentarily stunned by the sound of his chuckle. It sounded like music. When I recovered, I processed what he just said and one word stuck out from the others. _Past_. I met his eyes fearfully.

"How much do you know about my past?"

He looked back to the road. "Um, your mother died, did she not?"

I sighed. "I don't want to talk about her."

"I'm sorry to bring it up. I also know you've been visiting your aunt . . . "

All my tension dissolved. "My aunt?"

"Yes."

I looked up to meet his eyes. I don't think he meant for me to see, but I saw the concern and worry in his eyes as he met mine.

_Oh no. Oh no. Oh no._

"You know don't you?" The tension came back into my shoulders, I hunched over and put my head in my hands.

"I... no . . . I don't-" He sputtered, caught.

"Don't lie to me." I lifted my head up to see his face. He still had that concerned expression on his face.

He took a deep breath and then his hands on the wheel tightened. He turned to the window and exhaled.

I found that extremely weird. He looked like a dog with his head hanging out the window. I remember that he was driving the car and he wasn't paying any attention to the road. My spine straightened up immediately and I also noticed the speed.

"EDWARD!" I yelled at him. I doubted he would hear me over the wind, then again . . .

He jumped and stuck his head back into the window. "What!" He looked at me like I was insane.

"The road! You're suppose to be paying attention to the road!" I screeched frantically.

He rolled his eyes and looked back to the road. "Happy?" He asked.

"You're still speeding."

He muttered something and slowed down, I leaned forward to see the current speed and was satisfied. Still my semi heart attack had taken a toll on me and I needed to calm down. I took a deep breath trying to get my heartbeat back under control.

"How did you find out about my . . . past?" I winced a little.

"My father is the doctor that you had when you went to the hospital," He looked over to me, I met his eyes briefly before looking out the window, "When you came into the hospital he had to make sure you didn't have a pre-existing condition or anything that could have caused you to faint so suddenly. I happened to be at the hospital with my father and your papers were on his desk. Curiosity got the better of me and I read your file." His tone sounded so guilty that I lost my self-control for a second and looked at his face, he definitely looked guilty, but he also had pity on his face.

I closed my eyes and leaned back into the seat. Thoughts in my head were like bees, each one stung.

He read that I was a freak. He knew I was crazy. All my hoping for a normal life just went down the drain.

"It wasn't my place to do so, I'm truly sorry for it."

He shouldn't be sorry, if I wasn't a freak then none of this would have happened. If I wasn't a freak, Charlie wouldn't be ashamed of me. I wouldn't have to lie to Charlie either. More importantly I wouldn't have to act like something I wasn't: normal.

"I'm not going to tell anyone if that's what you're afraid of. It's your business."

It didn't matter if he told anyone or not, he would still know. He would know and treat me different from the rest would. Even if it's only one person I still would have to deal with the fact that somebody knew my secret. That somebody could hold something over my head if they wished.

"Bella? Please say something . . . " He sounded desperate.

I broke from my thoughts. "Will you do me a favor, Edward?" I looked straight ahead so that my emotions wouldn't show through my face.

_He could promise me this. Please let him promise me this._

"It depends, Bella." I could feel his eyes on me.

"Forget what you've read as soon as you can." He pulled into my driveway and I glanced at his face once before I would have to get out of the Jeep. For memory's sake.

His black eyes were confused, "I'll try." It didn't go past my attention that he didn't promise me that he wouldn't tell. I could only hope Edward had a soul.

I got out of the Jeep tripping a couple of times, but I didn't look back. I unlocked the front door and shut it behind me. I went upstairs and took my shower knowing that Charlie would be home soon to yell at me. I ended going to sleep after my shower and having another dream about Edward Cullen, this one though, was different from the rest.

OOO

Edward grabbed me and put me on his back, suddenly we were speeding off into the forest. I was trying to scream, but all that was coming out of my lips were sharp gasps, I was hyperventilating. The speed wasn't helping with my breathing. We arrived at the same clearing that I had seen him in before with the Jeep. He threw me off his back and I hit the ground. Something snapped and I whimpered in pain.

His eyes were still black and they looked at me greedily. "I'm sorry, love. I can't deal with it anymore. I need you." I tried to get up to run away, but it seemed that my leg was broken. I fell over and began to crawl frantically away from Edward. Every sense and nerve in my body screamed at me that he was dangerous. My whole body was shaking. He walked over to me and pulled me up to stand next to him.

"Oh, Bella. I love you so much." He whispered looking into my eyes. I tried to claw my way out of his arms, but his grip was so cold and like steel.

"I love you so much." He repeated as he leaned down to kiss my lips. I was still squirming and kicking my good leg.

"But . . . I love your blood more." He sighed and he bent down to my neck and bit me.

OOO


	7. Fighting Myself

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.**

**Reviews are always appreciated.**

* * *

I woke up screaming. I launched forward in bed and realized what I was doing and immediately clamped my hand down on my mouth.

_Stupid! Do you want to wake, Charlie?_

I calmed myself down by slowing down my breathing. It was something I had to do or else I might have a panic attack. I remembered having to do this before when I was in the institution. Seeing all those deaths use to always overwhelm me. If I didn't calm myself down . . . fainting usually resulted.

I managed to get my breathing back to normal and laid back thinking over my dream, trying to avoiding the mental pictures of it and just think of what Edward had said. He had said he needed me, unfortunately not in the sexual sense either. He had said it like his life depended on . . . like he was on the brink of insanity. He also said he loved me, repeatedly that he loved me.

That made my insides melt a little. Edward Cullen said he loved me.

_In a dream. Your dream. C'mon who would want to go out with you? You're a freak._

I nodded to myself in agreement. I had the dream, it was my own wishing, it wasn't real, it never would be. I continued to think about what else he had said . . . well there was only one other thing he had said . . . he said he loved my blood more.

That ruined my whole breathing process and I ended up having to repeat the steps again.

_He wanted my blood. My blood. What kind of . . . things like blood?_

Thing seemed like a good description of whatever "Edward" was in my dream, he didn't seem act human so I refused to classify him as one.

I rolled my eyes at myself.

_Here we go, Bella great job. Not only now do you see deaths, but your insane, I hope you are happy with yourself._

_Wasn't I already?_

In the dream Edward's face looked . . . torn, as if he were fighting with himself in his head. He kept saying he loved me, and looked like he did, but at the same time he said he wanted my blood, and the blood lust was very clear. The only "creatures" I could think of that wanted blood were certain animals . . . and cannibals.

_Alright Bells, put on the thinking cap. Think!_

Edward acted like an animal, appeared to be human, and wanted my blood. Then I realized the only thing I could compare him to was a vampire.

I snorted.

_Vampires. Jesus, that is just rich._

Just add a cape and some fangs and you've got yourself a vampire. I shook my head and laid back down. This town was messing with my head.

_Alright no more sci-fi for you, Bella._

I looked over at my alarm clock. It blinked 5:47 a.m. at me.

I began to think over what I should do today, it was Saturday so I wouldn't have school. Maybe I could catch up on cleaning the house . . . or maybe relax and read a book. I continued to think over my plans and soon fell asleep.

I ended waking up and feeling better. I slept till ten which for me, was late. I was usually more of an early bird. I got up and walked into the bathroom. I brushed my teeth and hair, then walked out and changed into some jeans and a clean tee-shirt. I made my bed and went downstairs to search for some food. Cereal was the only thing I felt like making. As I ate, I noticed a post-it note on the table.

_**Bells, Jacob called earlier. Wants you to call him back. So you are you two dating?**_

_No, we aren't dating. We're just friends._

I finished my cereal and cleaned up the dishes in the sink, suddenly I went into cleaning mode. I did the laundry and mopped the kitchen floors. I vacuumed the living room and the bedrooms. The house was almost spotless when I noticed the note again on the table. It had only been a couple hours. I'm sure Jacob's got plenty to keep him busy for a couple of hours. It's not like he was going to wait by the phone all day for my phone call. I took a shower and changed into some shorts and tank top, if I was going to continue to clean I didn't want to get my decent clothes dirty. I put my not-quite dry hair up in a messy bun. I continued to clean the living room and passed by some pictures on the wall. I winced when I saw them.

They were photos of Charlie and my mother. It was hard to ignore them. They were everywhere. Each one stabbed a little bit more at me. I wondered if my mother was disappointed in me and if my mother could feel disappointed in me. I tried to banish the thought. There had to be some place for my mother to go too. She was too good to just die and have no afterlife.

I ignored the pictures and continued to clean. I ended up finishing around four, it was later than I expected it to be. I walked over to the phone and was about to call Jacob when there was a knock at the door. I turned on my heel, nearly falling in the process and opened the door.

There stood Jacob.

_How creepy. How ironic. How creepily ironic._

He was wearing the biggest grin. He had on some faded jeans and white tee-shirt. I couldn't help but notice his slightly built muscles.

_WAIT MUSCLE? BABY JACOB HAD MUSCLES?_

I zoned in on his abs and my mouth dropped in surprise.

_What do you know, Baby Jacob had some muscles . . . wait why am I thinking about Jacob's muscles?_

I broke my trance and looked back at Jacob and saw he was smiling cockily.

"Like what you see?"

Okay sure, maybe he earned that right since this was the second time it had happened, but still, I didn't take cockiness well. I smirked and shut the door in his face.

"Wait! Bella! I didn't mean to offend you!" He called through the door. He opened it back up a crack.

I could tell he was waiting for me to say something so I threw him a bone, "If your going to be cocky, go somewhere else."

He opened the door grinning like a fool, "Cocky? Who me?" He strolled in like he owned the place.

I raised my eyebrow at him and shut the door, "Why are you here?" He ignored me and sat down at the kitchen table, he looked up at me and smirked.

"What? I already told you if your going to be an-" I stopped my rant when I saw what he was holding.

Charlie's little unholy post-it note. The note telling me to call Jacob.

I smiled uneasily, "Oops?"

He nodded, "Oops is right, Bella."

I started to apologize when he interrupted me, "See now we have Charlie thinking we're dating . . . which I mean isn't bad, but hey, it's a little early, don't you think?" He smiled over at me.

That wasn't why I was going to apologize. I wasn't even interested in Jacob. Okay that was a lie . . . but still Jacob was my friend . . . my very good guy friend.

Isabella and Bella started fighting in my head. So far, Isabella was giving a beat down.

_Oh c'mon! Flirt a little bit! Bat those eyelashes! He's one huge chuck of eye-candy! Oh and did I mention that he keeps smiling at you and hinting at dating . . . um hello? He's flirting with you! Ya you, the freak!_

Poor little Bella was barely hanging on.

_It's bad. It's bad. It's bad. You'll lose him as a friend if it ends badly. You only like him as a friend, don't ruin this!_

I decided to flirt, just a little. Batting my eyelashes was something harmless enough. So I did and smiled at him.

He cocked him head at me, "Is there something in your eye?"

I immediately blushed deeply and covered it up quickly with a lie, "Yeah, it's this eyelash I think, it keeps poking my eye . . . yup . . . ow." I rubbed my eye.

He got up and came over to me, "Let me look at it." I tried to take a step back, but tripped over my own foot, Jacob grabbed my wrists and pulled me back on my feet. He didn't let go once I was stable again until I glared at him.

"My eye's fine."

"Yeah, whatever." He took my face in one of his hands and pulled my chin up to examine my eye.

I felt my cheeks burning in embarrassment.

"You've got a pretty eye." He said.

_What an ice breaker._

I laughed, "Um, thanks? Can I have my face back now?"

He laughed too and let go of my face.

"Well I didn't come over to examine your eye. I came over to ask you something." Jacob started, he looked nervous.

I sat down at the table and he joined me, "You could have fooled me."

He rolled his eyes at my attempted humor, "What I was coming over to ask you was if you'd go out with me sometime?"

I felt frozen.

_Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Look what you've done! You idiot! You led him on!_

_Yeah, way to go, Bella! Score!_

I tried to grasp at any topic change, I went with the first one off the top of my head, "Um, didn't you already ask me this?"

He nodded, "I did. You said you'd think about it, so here we are again . . . "

Crap, I did say that."On a date?" I winced at the words.

He noticed, "Um, if you want."

_Piece a lie together, piece a lie together, piece a-_

"I don't date."

_Brilliant! My god, brilliant!_

"Oh . . . " He seemed disappointed, "Well we could always go out for fun. As friends. I could still be your homework bud."

I nodded in total agreement, "Homework buds it is."

He smiled, not completely happy, but that was all I was willing to give to him, friendship.

"I've got to go, Dad will wonder where I am." Jacob said heading for the door.

"I'll see you around?" I asked as he opened the door.

"You will most definitely see me around." Jacob gave me a cocky grin and went outside. I rolled my eyes at him and shut the door.

_Great. An admirer. A Bella admirer_.

I sighed and slumped defeated into a chair. Next on the things to do would be to survive Charlie's meltdown. I just couldn't wait.


	8. Liar Liar

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.**

**Reviews/Favs/Alerts are appreciated.**

**Thanks for waiting guys :)**

* * *

I heard the front door jerk open, I continued to stir the spaghetti sauce as calmly as I could. I was going to try to make dinner to ease Charlie's irritation. After all, the way to a man's heart was through his stomach, wasn't it?

I turned to see Charlie's face and regretted it. He looked angry. Extremely angry. There was no hint of mercy in his expression either. This would be a lovely conversation.

"Hey Dad, I'm making pasta for dinner. Is that okay?" I asked him with a forced, sweet smile.

He ignored my small talk, "We're going to have a talk later."

I felt the sweet smile fall from my face and I nodded looking down. I heard his footsteps fade into the living room. I turned back to my pasta and continued to stir.

OOO

Charlie and I sat across from each other eating the dinner I had prepared. I was hoping for him to look just a bit more calm or less lethal, but to my disappointment, the food didn't lighten the mood or tension.

I was twirled some strands of angel hair on my fork. I wasn't really hungry. I was thinking deeply about my excuse for running off. I had already came up with a lie, now I was just tweaking it here and there to make it sound more believable. I imagined my facial expressions as I would deliver it, I would have to commit to making Charlie believe it.

I've always been a good liar. When it came to the truth though . . . people didn't seem to believe me.

I let my thoughts drift back to the institution.

OOO

An old voice spoke to me, "Ya gonna eat that?" I looked up to meet the eyes of a haggard woman who was looking coldly at me.

A vision took over, and I saw the woman's death. She would plunge a piece of metal in her throat.

I knew I was screaming before I could stop myself. The woman looked at me as if I had lost all my marbles, she took my pudding cup and walked away.

I tried to control my hysteria. The rest of the people in the cafeteria were giving me weird looks. They weren't use to somebody acting out, they never were around others who acted out. Patients who were stable enough could eat and converse with other people, the others who were unstable had to stay by themselves locked in their rooms.

I saw a big man suddenly before me, "Help her! She's going to kill herself!" I screamed at him.

He didn't listen, he grabbed me and started pulling me away from the others. I thrashed against him, if I told the others maybe they could help the poor woman.

"Help her! She'll kill herself! Help her!" I screamed at them. Some of the other patients started to freak out, some of them didn't do anything but stare, none of them helped her.

"Miss Swan, we'd appreciate if you wouldn't try to upset the other patients." The man said to me.

"They need to help her!"

"She's fine, Miss Swan." He tried to sooth me.

"SHE WILL NOT BE FINE! SHE WILL BE DEAD!" I screamed lividly.

Suddenly the world was upside down and I was moving away from the lunch area. I thrashed even harder from this man's grip, but it was harder now that I was thrown over his shoulder. My attempts at escape were useless, and I fell limp over his shoulder.

The woman would die in two weeks from stabbing herself in the throat with a bent fork that the staff assumed she found in the cafeteria. After the discovery of the woman, the staff connected it to my outburst and most religious staff members would start referring to me as the "Devil's Child".

OOO

Charlie broke me from my thoughts by starting up some conversation, I only got part of it. "-worried, Bella. Why would you just run off like that?"

I decided to stall a little, "I don't know." I acted clueless.

Wrong thing to do. Charlie's face turned to a deep shade of red.

"You do know! Don't you lie to me either! I'm fed up with the lies!" Charlie said harshly.

_Backtrack, calm him down._

"Dad, I'm sorry. I let my anger get the best of me." I replied in a quiet tone.

His face softened a little, "You could have came back home."

"Yes, I could have." _No, I couldn't. I was lost._

He seemed to get more calm now that I was agreeing with him.

"I sent a search team out, but they couldn't find you. I thought I had lost you." Charlie looked upset.

If I was already feeling guilty about everything, this just worsened the guilt. This was the second time I made him say that.

"I'm sorry." I said, that seemed to be the only answer that I could come up with.

"I'm sorry too." He said looking at me.

I nodded and looked down at my food, I picked up my fork and twisted some more pasta around it, before I could take a bite Charlie bombarded me with another question.

"Where did you go?"

This is where my lie came in, I looked up and put my fork down, "I ran for a while, but I didn't seem to be getting anywhere. So I changed direction and ended up coming to an abandoned house. I didn't want to come home just yet because I felt awful about yelling at you and causing a scene at the diner, so I slept in the abandoned house for the night. When it was brighter out, I could tell the way back to town and found out I wasn't that far from home, so I just walked home." I delivered my lines and focused on my acting as I did so.

I looked to Charlie who was looking at me suspiciously, not the reaction I was looking for. I was hoping for maybe worried or understanding.

"I thought I said at the beginning of the conversation no lies."

I blanched which only confirmed what Charlie assumed. "I did not lie." I tried to cover up my tracks.

Charlie wasn't having it, his anger returned. "Quit lying!"

I bowed my head. "I can't."

"Why can't you? What can't you tell me?" Charlie asked angrily.

"You won't believe me, it's better if I don't tell you."

"What the hell did they feed you at that institution? You can tell me anything! I'm your father!"

_What the hell did they feed me? They fed me lies, just like I plan to feed you and the rest of Forks._

"I'm sorry." I said again. How many times did I have to say it?

I got up and threw the uneaten food on my plate into the trash. I put my dish in the sink and ran upstairs.

_You did the right thing, Bella. He can't find out about the visions or else your end up back in that padded cell._

I nodded to myself in complete agreement. If anything, Charlie could not find out.

I took a shower, letting the warm water relax my muscles. I finished up my shower and put on my sweats and a shirt.

I went to bed thinking my conversation with Charlie over. He knew that I lied . . . how did he know that I lied? I'd mastered the poker face in the institution. They ate up my lies and some even took seconds. Why couldn't Charlie just eat the lies up?

I sighed and turned over. School would be easier. Although I would have to see Edward, and he had found out about where I really had been, he at least didn't know that I still had the visions.

I figured I could trust Edward with my secret. He clearly wasn't accepted by others, he only hung out with his family. He seemed friendly enough but there was also that undercurrent of something in his voice, something dangerous. This thought brought up my observations of Edward, from my visions and from just being around him.

There were so many questions I wanted to ask him. His eyes for starters, how could his eyes be black now and then go to green when he would die? How was he so fast, would be another . . . how, could he get from where we were in the woods to wherever his house was back to where he assumed I would be? Then there was the whole blood lust dream but that didn't seem like a good idea to ask him about it . . . in the dream Edward's skin was cold and he was really strong . . . maybe I could test those out and see if my dream was true . . .

I fell asleep before I could make any more planning.

I woke up peacefully for once, I didn't have a bad dream last night, actually I didn't have any dreams at all last night. I got out of bed and did my usual morning routine. I went downstairs surprised to see no note from Charlie. A little part of me still felt guilty for not making amendments last night and instead causing more problems. I shrugged off my problems though and grabbed my book bag. If anything I would keep my personal life and my school life separated.

I locked the house behind me and hopped into my truck. I started it up and went to school. I parked in the student lot and started into school, immediately I was greeted by stares and whispers. I avoided eyes for obvious reasons. I didn't want to end up right back in Dr. Cannibal's care. I made it to my locker without incident then Spanish class girl popped out of nowhere.

"Bella! Oh my god! Are you all right?" I resisted rolling my eyes, anyone who could act knew exactly what she was and what she did. I figured it out by the way she talked about the Cullens that she was a gossiper and that she would want the latest juicy gossip to spread around the school. Ironically enough the latest juicy gossip would be whatever would come out of my mouth.

"Hi, Jessica, I'm fine." I said opening my locker.

"What happened the other day?" I wasn't sure which event she was referring too. I decided to go with the least dramatic one.

"I fainted." I explained.

"No, I know _all_ about that, silly. I was talking about you and your dad."

Never in my life have I wanted to scream so many profanities at somebody, I clutched my textbook tighter against my arm as I slammed my locker door and put on the lock.

Jessica jumped at the slam, "Didn't go so well did it?"

"I forgot to tell him I was sick and staying home." I said quietly.

_You might want to run while that curly hair is still attached to your head._

"So when I asked why you weren't-"

I interrupted her, "He had no clue." I finished.

She looked a little smug, "Sorry." She quickly lost the smug look and replaced it with an "apologetic" smile.

She liked that she had made life a little bit harder for me.

_I outta beat her ass!_

I wasn't surprised at my anger, I did have a short temper, but the violence did surprise me . . . it also frightened me. If I didn't get away from Jessica soon, I felt like I could bash her head into the lockers a couple of times and not even care.

_Don't let her get to you. Don't give her that satisfaction. Leave!_

"I have to go to class, Jessica." I told her avoiding her facial expression. It would probably only set me off again.

"Me too, see you at lunch!" She said cheekily and scampered off.

My new mission before lunch was to make some new friends . . . friends that didn't sit at the same table Jessica Stanley sat at.

I walked toward my next class wondering who I should try to befriend and better yet who would befriend me . . .


	9. New Friends

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, I do however own the plot to this story.**

**Reviews/Favs/Alerts are all appreciated.**

**I want to thank everybody for having patience with me, I appreciate it a lot and hope you enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

When the bell rang for lunch, I had only managed to make three friends. One girl and two boys. The girl was Angela, but I forgot her last name. She was pretty tall and had a shy, but sweet personality, one boy hung out with her a lot, it was clear he liked her, but Angela seemed oblivious to it, I don't even remember if I had gotten his name. The last, but most definitely not least - or at least he tried not to be - was Mike Newton.

What can I say about Mike? I can say a lot. You want to know why? Because he chatted my ear off, like you wouldn't believe.

Of the three people, I saw only Angela and Mike's death by accidentally looking into their eyes, luckily they had normal deaths, Angela of old age and Mike of illness.

Mike chattered as we made our way to cafeteria keeping conversation flowing among the four of us. I saw Jessica, whose name I had found out by overhearing her and some other blond girl talking about Mike this morning on my way into school. Of course I didn't want to be reminded of our conversation that had taken place after I made it to my locker so I quickly took my place at an empty circular table in the back.

Angela followed me instantly along with her admirer, but Mike was wary to follow.

"What?" I asked him secretly pleased.

_Run away, Newton. Shoo please._

He sighed and switched feet. "Well, it's just the Cullens sit near here." This made Angela get mad, and huff. Her admirer noticing her distress came to her rescue.

"What's so bad about the Cullens?" Angela gave him a sweet smile and he returned it. I fought the urge to take a picture and yell 'Kodak moment'.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Ben." Angela stopped smiling and turned to glare at Mike. I felt my brows furrow in confusion, what was wrong with the Cullens? What was different about them?

"What about the Cullens is bad?" I asked Mike. He sighed and plopped down beside me in a seat and began to explain.

"It's not so much bad as it is strange. The Cullens tend to keep to themselves. I understand not wanting to be into the community, but there is a such thing as being friendly."

Edward was friendly to me when he drove me home, I couldn't speak for all the Cullens though so I kept my mouth shut but Angela surprised me by not.

"They're _polite_, Mike," She stopped glaring at him and turned to me, "_I _think they're just shy." She looked at who I now could guess was Ben and started up some conversation about math homework.

I turned my attention back to Mike. "How long have they been here?"

Mike looked bored with the subject, probably because I wasn't trying to diss the Cullens like him.

"Awhile, not very long."

I didn't know what to say so I just nodded. I tuned into my thoughts and jumped when I felt somebody pat my shoulder, I looked up to meet the eyes of Eric.

"Bella, baby!" He grinned at me. I felt myself laughing.

_Baby?_

"Eric? Hey." I greeted him. He took this as a welcoming and sat down on the table between me and Mike, blocking him completely from view. I wished I could see Newton's expression.

"You remembered. How's school going?" He seemed to pay a lot of attention to me.

I looked away self-consciously then directed my gaze to the table, "Um, fine, you know, the usual."

_What did they call that? Oh yeah, word vomit._

He seemed to understand though.

"Same here. Hey Ben, Angela." He greeted the others too.

Mike looked around Eric and looked frustrated.

"So Bella, I was thinking that maybe-"

"Hey Mike, wanna hear a joke?" Mike was interrupted by Eric. Mike looked murderously at Eric.

"No." Eric was still grinning though.

"Your momma is so fat when she put on a pair of Guess Jeans the answer popped out!" Eric finished and doubled over in laughter along with Ben. Angela and I giggled. Mike simply got up and left, this made Eric hysterical.

I wondered what Mike was going to ask me, then guessed it was better I didn't know. I heard somebody snort and my head followed the sound, it came from our left . . . the Cullen table. They all were looking at us, as soon as they noticed my staring they went back to staring out in different directions. My eyes followed to where Edward should be sitting, instead he wasn't there. This confused me and also made me feel empty for some reason. I looked at the different Cullens' faces and saw no emotion.

_Great, no Edward _and_ I'll never know who has a good sense of humor._

I turned back to the table. Eric had managed to compose himself and was talking with Angela and Ben along with somebody who was a bit familiar. Eric noticed my confusion and introduced us.

"Tyler, this is Bella." Tyler smiled at me and shook my hand.

"Hi." I said returning the smile.

"Hey, I'm the one who almost killed you." He said and frowned slightly.

"Oh! Well thanks for not doing that . . . " I laughed and he joined in.

"Yeah, I would've have hated to squish something so pretty." He grinned.

I felt myself blush slightly embarrassed. I didn't think I was very pretty, just plain.

_Damn those smooth talkers._

"Hey, Tyler. I heard something about your mom." Eric trying to get back the spotlight.

"Oh yeah, what?" Tyler challenged.

"I heard that your momma's so fat, she eats Wheat Thicks." Eric grinned at Tyler.

Tyler smirked and chuckled once, "Well your momma's so ugly that when three masked robbers broke into her house, she yelled 'RAPE!' and they yelled 'NO!'"

Ben laughed at this, but I simply turned my head tired of the 'yo mama' jokes wishing for Edward to be here.

At least if he were here, I wouldn't feel this suspicion that it was my fault he didn't show up today. I knew it was silly, what did I do to him? He gave me a ride and admitted to reading my file. My file stating that I went to a mental institution. No biggie. Also even if Cullen tried to hold it over my head who was going to believe him over me? Yeah, because I was the one who was more accepted! I was the one who wasn't a freak! I was normal!

_Calm down, Bella. You're letting it get to you._

_Shut up!_

The two halves of me started fighting. Isabella and Bella. Although I wanted to side with Isabella, I had to look at the hard core evidence. So far Bella made a lot of friends, Isabella made an enemy. I sided with Bella, right now I needed a peacemaker, I just wished Bella wasn't a doormat, people constantly walked all over her.

_This isn't over._

_It never is._

I sighed, they never shut up unless I stopped listening. Tyler and Eric currently were glaring at each other, I suppose one joke must have taken it too far. I turned my attention to Angela who was now alone, I wondered where Ben went so I asked her.

"His locker is pretty far away. He likes to leave early so he won't get trampled by seniors." She laughed and I joined in.

I glanced at Eric and Tyler and back at her. "And what about them? They're no longer joking?"

"No, it went too far. I'm surprised they actually talked at all today."

"What do you mean?"

"Usually we sit at that table over there," She turned and pointed at where Jessica and now Mike was sitting, she turned back and looked at me, "We all sit at different places, so you can only talk with people you're around."

"Why not change seats?"

"Jessica wouldn't like it." Angela sighed.

"So?" I felt heat rise, why did I get this feeling that Jessica tried to run the show?

"Jessica's not worth messing with. She likes to spread rumors and I'd rather not be spread about." She looked down.

"What's the worst she can spread?" I meant it as a rhetorical question.

"She spread one about you already." Angela said quietly.

"What about me!"

_I knew it! Edward told! Oh he is so dead! Edward Cullen will be destroyed!_

_He's going to die young anyway . . . remember the vision?_

I tried to rein in my anger.

"She said that . . . that you were . . . a rule breaker kind of girl . . . and that you'd gotten expelled from . . . some school in Arizona . . . " She paused every so often to look at my expression which I had no clue what it looked like by now.

Whatever it looked like it was hostile enough to cut Angela off, "I wouldn't believe it anyways, I mean you don't seem bad- you aren't bad . . .

"No need to feel guilty, Angela. I'm just surprised that she could get so much information in such a little time." I only had told Eric that I "lived" in Arizona, so that meant he told Jessica or somebody else and they told her, either way no information should be trusted with anybody, it all could be used against me.

"It's true?" She looked at me bewildered.

"Not all of it, I use to live in . . . Arizona, though." I said.

"Oh, you're not very tan." She observed.

"I went Goth for awhile." She looked even more alarmed, but when she saw me starting to laugh, she relaxed.

"Don't let it bother you, Bella. It had the opposite effect anyway. All boys want a bad girl." She smirked knowingly.

I pointed to myself, "One hundred percent goody-two-shoes."

"Hmm, all that's missing is the Mary Janes and a couple of pink ribbons." She smiled.

"I didn't say four, Angela. I said goody-two-shoes."

We ended up sharing and swapping stories on what we used to dress in when we were younger. Then the bell rang signaling lunch period was over. I found myself irritated, I liked talking to Angela, I thought we could become really good friends. We said our goodbyes and after a quick stop at my locker I went to my next class, Biology II with Mr. Banner, I let him sign my slip that I wasn't able to get signed before, my . . . accident on my first day made me absent for this class. He assigned me a book and didn't make me introduce myself to the class, of course by now I'm sure everybody knew exactly who Bella Swan was. Stupid, small towns.

I made it to my seat stumbling only once. I could tell I would like this class. I was by myself at the lab table so I wouldn't have to deal with a neighbor who texted all during class or somebody who always wanted to talk or-

"Everybody open your textbooks to cellular anatomy, and yes, you will have a test on this later so it would be helpful if you stayed awake during class." Mr. Banner gave a pointed look at Mike. Mike simply snorted and tried talking to the girl beside him.

I took detailed notes and found myself really interested in the things we were learning, the institution did have education for those who seek it, but it wasn't very helpful, mostly I had just read books and studied math, learning some things in biology. Of course I did get tutored over time at the institution, but after awhile the director decided I was "cured" and could return to my normal life. I'll never forget that day.

OOO

"Isabella, we've watched you throughout the years and believe that the visions have ceased," He glanced at me for approval when I nodded he continued, "they have ceased which means you have no reason to continue your treatment. Although if you feel as if you're not ready to go just yet we can wait awhile, but we believe that you're capable of it."

I felt this overwhelming relieve and undeniable happiness but hid it with a small smile, "I'm ready."

He smiled at me, "Alright, your therapist talked to you earlier about this and your dad will be waiting for you at the Forks airport. You'll be okay with crowds of people?" He asked.

I nodded, I understood his worry, I was only as street smart as a twelve-year-old. I could handle a crowd though, after all I was seventeen now, I entered this place when I was twelve. I've been here for five years.

His smile returned and he stood up as did I. He gave me a hug as did my current therapist. I returned them unhappily.

_Why hug the monsters?_

This place had tried to tear me down and build me back again and the only thing they had succeeded in was making me a little bit more insane. That's what they tried to tell me anyway. They said I now had a multiple personality disorder too, but they said I could use medication to control it . . . if Isabella got too out of hand.

I waved at the other patients and then Isabella flipped them off. The staff looked shocked but the patients looked at me as if they could see right through me. I grinned and stepped through the doors that had held me captive.

I span in the fresh air and the sunshine breathing it in, at last, happiness. This is what it looked like, and this is what it felt like. I smiled and strolled to the cab whistling a tune. The cabbie was informed of where he was taking me from the institution and was prepaid, I slid into the cab and shut the door behind me. I grinned at him and his eyes widened a bit.

"Alright, let's get me the hell out of here!" I told him.

He chuckled, "If you say so, miss."

I rode off into the distance, each rotation of the tire taking me farther from my personal hell.

OOO


	10. Name Calling

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.**

**Reviews/Favs/Alerts are truly appreciated.**

**This chapter is dedicated to my mother, Patricia. Without you I might have had a normal childhood. See you in hell, bitch.**

* * *

The next few weeks passed slowly for me. Edward Cullen didn't return back to school and my suspicion that it was my fault only increased. His siblings would often glance at me as if they were trying to figure me out, but before I could return their stares they always turned away lightening fast.

_Stupid amazing reflexes._

Jessica continued to annoy me along with Mike. I avoided her mostly and sat at the new table in lunch with Angela, Ben, Eric, and sometimes Tyler.

Mike and Jessica tried to get me to go to parties often or go to home games I usually declined their offers saying that I had homework to do. That was a huge lie though. School wasn't very difficult, if you paid attention.

School did challenge me, but I found myself enjoying what I was taught. I frequently took notes during class and studied them at home. This probably would seem weird to most people, but I honestly didn't have much to do at home.

I already read Wuthering Heights nineteen times and I quickly ran out of new reading material. Chores were almost nonexistent because of having nothing to do I cleaned each day. Then there was Charlie whom I managed to keep a facade up for, of course I didn't know how long I'd be able to keep my act up for. I didn't like feeling like I had to hide myself from my own father, but it was for the better. Although I kept up my facade, it did have some holes . . .

Charlie surprised me one night by dropping a bomb on me that I hoped would have blown away by now, but my luck being what it was . . . well it just wasn't going to happen.

"Bells?" Charlie called from downstairs. I looked up curiously from my notes and called back to him.

"Yeah?" I put down my notes and got off my bed walking to the doorway, I climbed down the stairs slowly and made my way to the living room. Charlie was sitting in his Lazy-Boy recliner looking seriously at me.

"I think we need to talk." He replied.

His words made my heart speed up and I immediately went over what I could have done wrong. Nothing, well nothing he should know about. I wondered if he found out about my ride with Edward.

That empty feeling returned and I ignored it.

"O..kay?" I said sitting down on the couch looking at my hands. I heard his chair grunt as he leaned forward.

"You haven't been eating lately." It wasn't a question, he made sure by his tone.

_Oh crap._

I've been trying so hard to lead him off the trail of thinking I was insane that I totally forgot I "had" an eating disorder.

Of course rather than be honest, I let Isabella take control, "I eat dinner every night." I replied innocently.

He shook his head and huffed. "You pick at your food, Bells. That's not eating."

_I have things on my mind, Charlie, like how people are going to die. Sorry if I forget to eat._

_Isabella . . . calm down._

I kept my temper in check, "Sorry."

This only made him even more irked. "Why do you always say that? Why do you apologize when you don't even mean it?"

"I don't know?" I was trying to be the perfect daughter for his sake, didn't that consist of agreeing with whatever he said and having no backbone?

_There's no such thing as being perfect. Everybody has flaws, Is._

_I have one really big flaw, Bell._

_Stop being negative._

I tuned them out, it always confuses me and isn't just worth the headache. I didn't know if they were my conscious or if they were actual voices in my head. I knew that one thing was for sure. They could make my decisions for me. I wondered absentmindedly what that made me . . . if I wasn't Bella or Isabella. Usually I felt like Bella, but lately I think Isabella was taking control, mainly because I was trying to get off the medication I was on.

"You don't know? Explain that to me . . . how can you not know!" He looked like he was losing it, I bet being crazy ran in the family.

_Well you see, Dad, I have three people running my body. I have a bad, good, and neutral side of me. God apparently was trying to make a funny one day and mixed three personalities in one body, but he didn't know it would eventually cause insanity._

_Don't joke about this-_

I needed those little white saviors _now_, "I'm tired, Dad. Can we talk about this tomorrow?"

"No." His tone was final.

_What?_

"What?" I echoed my thoughts.

"No, Bella I'm trying to help you." He seemed to have calmed down a lot, I didn't like his tone of voice though, it was too much like that time he was sending me to the asylum. Too convincing and understanding.

"Dad, I don't have a problem, I'm just tired." It was true for the most part, I didn't have the problem he claimed I did.

He studied me, "I'm taking you to see, Dr. Cullen again tomorrow."

_What the hell!_

"Why? There's nothing wrong with me!" I felt my rage starting to build.

_Isabella-_

_Shut up._

"There is, you're trying to hide it, but I know. I'm going to have Dr. Cullen see you and maybe he can help me find a therapist, or-"

"I'm _not _going to a therapist. There is _nothing_ wrong with me. I _am_ going to sleep. _Goodnight_." I spoke in a lethal tone that made Charlie's eyes bulge.

I walked back upstairs and into my room slamming the door, I found my medication and swallowed them without water, I was rewarded with a calm state and relaxed. I shut off my bedside table light and fell asleep.

OOO

I walked into Forks High School once again was greeted immediately by Jessica. She smiled a huge grin and started walking with me, cuing me in on all the gossip for today.

"Chad and Samantha broke up, can you believe it? It apparently was about trust issues or something. She does seem to cheat a lot, but I think she really did like him." Her face was thoughtful as we stopped at my locker. I quickly did my combination and opened it up. Jessica waited for me to say something.

"Isn't Samantha a bitch?" Jessica's mouth popped open and she looked bewildered.

"Yeah, now I remember she's the one who hangs out with Lauren." I remembered the brown-haired girl making fun of me as I tripped up stairs. Jessica didn't like the subject we were on. Lauren was her friend. She changed it.

"Mike asked me out on a date!" Her voice squeaked happily. I was glad my face was covered because I nearly laughed.

_She thinks Mike is something? Heh, o-kay._

"That's great, Jess." I closed my locker after gathering my books and smiled at her. She seemed a little miffed, I bet she thought that would have made me jealous.

"Edwards back," My smile faded instantly at his name, "I saw his this morning. I wonder why he left in the first place?" I felt my face drop to horror, why was he back? I was doing fine without him here.

Jessica seemed to like my current state and said goodbye and skipped off. I resisted the urge to flip her off.

I walked to my first class and slammed my books down on my desk. Everybody in the classroom jumped and then averted their eyes from my face. Luckily the teacher wasn't here yet so I didn't get in trouble and get detention. I slumped down in my seat and sighed.

_Huffing and puffing will eventually just blow you down, Is._

I remembered not taking my medication and rushing out the door. I resisted sighing again and turned my textbook to the right page as the teacher walked through the door. All of sudden a piece of paper found its way to my desk.

I looked up confused, Mr. Mason was still droning on about our current assignment. I turned my head left, nobody was looking at me, I then turned my head right, nobody was looking at me from this direction either. I dropped my gaze back to the square.

_What the hell do I do?_

Was this note meant for me? The fact that nobody was giving me a meaningful look to pass it on, I doubted I was suppose to pass it. On the contrary, I barely knew anybody near me in this class. The people I did were on the other side of the room. How would they manage to get the note all the way over here?

"You're suppose to open it." I heard a hiss say, and I turned my head to look right into the deadly eyes of Samantha.

OOO

A woman walked down the street a skip in her step. She was almost middle-aged, but she didn't even resemble Samantha. There were so many winkles and burns on the woman's face it was difficult to even make out her facial expression. She sat down on her windbreaker in an alley she made it too. Quickly with a shaky hand she pulled out a small Ziploc baggie with white powder in it. She licked her lips in anticipation and poured it right onto the pavement on the alley. She bent down and pulled out what looked like a cut straw, she began sniffing it. The woman didn't stop sniffing the drug until her head slammed forward into the pavement and by then it was too late.

A shudder rippled through my torso and I looked back down to the square. I tentatively opened it as if at any moment something might pop out. When it was fully open, it read:

**Isabella, I found out you called me a bitch because Chad broke up with me. Well guess what? I'm not! You better shut your mouth before I shut it for you!**

I looked back up to meet Samantha's eyes. I glanced back to the note and wrote my response:

**Samantha, is it? Let me introduce myself. I'm Bella. And for the record I could care less who your dating or why they broke up with you. I called you a bitch, simply because you act like one. Maybe you should stop snorting and get your head out of your ass and realize that.**

Satisfied, I handed the note back to her and went back to listening to Mr. Mason's lecture. A little shriek tore me from listening. I turned my head to Samantha. She was looking at me stunned.

"Miss Marshall, is there something wrong?" He came toward her. She balled the note up in her fist under her desk. She looked up at him and spoke in a firm tone.

"Nothing is wrong, Mr. Mason." I looked back at my textbook trying to hide my smirk. I couldn't hide it completely and the corners of my mouth twitched upward.

The rest of the class passed quickly. As I made my way out the door, Samantha hissed in my ear.

"This is far from over." I smiled at her and waved to her as she stalked off to her next class.

Class after class passed by much the same and I was beginning to see why high school was dull. I made my way toward the cafeteria and met Angela at the entrance who was waiting for me with Ben. She looked worriedly at me and then glanced behind me. As soon as I made it to her side, she linked arms with me and hauled me immediately to our lunch table near the Cullens.

They were already at their table, all five of them. I smiled at the thought and dropped it from my face. They weren't even my friends I reminded myself.

"What are you thinking?" Angela whispered harshly to me still pulling toward our table. Ben struggled to keep up with Angela's fast pace. Hell, I was being dragged.

When we reached our table, she turned to me expectantly. I turned to the Cullens who looked disinterested in whatever we were saying although I couldn't shake the feeling they were listening, Edward especially, I felt my insides flutter a little seeing him.

_What the hell?_

_I second that, Is._

I looked back at Angela, "I was thinking I could stop some rumors." I said honestly. Angela looked at me dumbfounded and slumped into her seat, Ben sat down beside her, looking a little worried. I sat across from her.

"Am I still talking to the same Bella? The Bella who didn't want any trouble?" She tried to joke but it didn't reach her eyes, I felt my head ache a little.

"Of course I'm still Bella there's only one of me," I laughed nervously, "I don't want any trouble, you know that Angie," her eyes softened at the nickname, "but it's just so hard with the rumors flying like they are, I really don't need any more."

"Bella, there's other ways to deal with this." She spoke quietly.

_Baby ways. C'mon you're not three anymore._

_Violence isn't the answer, Is._

_There wasn't a question posed, Bell._

My head pounded a little more. Their voices were hurting my head. Usually they were just whispers, but today it was like normal volume you used in a conversation.

I shook my head trying to clear it, Angela thought I was answering to what she said. "Then what do you think we should do? I'm not letting you get in trouble, Bella!"

_I say we fight._

_I say we don't._

_You're a wimp._

_You're annoying._

I shook my head again, how could they be getting louder. Why didn't they stay whispers?

"Bella! You've got to listen to me!" Angela sounded desperate.

_Listen to her!_

_Don't listen to her!_

_She's your friend!_

_She's Bella's friend._

_What's that suppose to mean?_

_Exactly my point._

"Quit talking." I mumbled, and I put my head in my hands. My forehead was getting hot and I could feel it pounding again my hand.

"No! Bella-"

I stopped her before she could say something so that the voices would rant again. "Please," I begged, "can we talk tomorrow?" At least then I could remember my medication. I couldn't take this much talking right now, even more so now that their voices seemed to get louder.

"This is serious! Samantha wants to fight you!" Angela said she reached out to me and I pulled away.

_The bitch wants to fight you? Coolness!_

_This isn't good._

_Are you kidding me? This is fantastic!_

_No, it's not!_

_Yes, it is._

_Is not!_

_Is too!_

_Is not!_

The voices kept going and sweat starting forming at my forehead. My tear ducts started to water and my nails dug into my skin. Angela tried to ask me what's wrong but it was getting harder and harder to hear her as the voices continued to get louder, suddenly Samantha Marshall appeared in front of me smirking.

_GET HER!_

_NO!_

_USE THE LEFT HOOK!_

I didn't hear what she said instead I lost control and let Isabella have me. My blood was boiling and my flesh burned as I met her eyes. A demon from hell seemed to possess my soul and I smiled wickedly at her, "Hello, Samantha."

Her eyes widened and she took a step back and I moved forward. Angela jumped up from the table and ran toward me, luckily Ben held her back. I looked around Samantha and I took in our audience. Everybody had their eyes on us, including the Cullens. One set of eyes in particular seemed to reflect what I felt, the male blond with the Cullens. I was cut off by vision.

OOO

A soldier was dressed in a uniform that looked from an earlier century. He was riding on a horse, of all things and stopped when he came to three women on foot. The man got off the horse and I got a better look at him, he looked exactly like the blond at the Cullen lunch table except this one had blue eyes. The vision flickered to the women talking. Then I saw him getting bit violently on the neck by some small brunette women, the other women seem to have disappeared.

OOO

The vision only increased my . . . blood lust? Yes, I guess that's what you would call it. I wanted to see Samantha bleed, and I wanted her writhing on the floor screaming in pain because of me. Isabella took control again and my vision went red.


	11. Lost Battle

**Disclaimer: By now you should know I don't own Twilight.**

**Reviews/Favs/Alerts are all appreciated.**

**Warning: I used bitch at least five times in this chapter(:**

* * *

I was lunging toward Samantha before anybody could stop me, but just when I could reach her, I was suddenly jerked backwards and felt my arms being held behind me. Ignoring the dizziness of the whiplash, I strained to get out of this cold grip to run toward her. I didn't have such luck, whoever had me, had some sort of unbreakable hold on me. I wanted to cause Samantha pain and now that I was restrained, it seemed hopeless. I probably would have just given up and regain my old self back to force Isabella back into the smallest corner of my mind, but I couldn't stop feeling hatred and loathing toward this bitch. It only increased when she saw that there was reason to be worried anymore and started taunting me.

Samantha was smirking and making comments at me like '_C'mon_ Swan!' and 'Aww. Too afraid _aren't_ you?'

Then I lost it. I screamed at her and started thrashing against whoever held me. The taunting ceased and was replaced with comments questioning my sanity. I decided to hit my head against this person's chest like I used to do to get out of tricky grips. When my head jerked back to slam into this person's chest I saw myself looking into a pair of golden eyes. Edward's golden eyes.

_Ah, hell._

His eyes somehow paralyzed me, my legs felt limp and my screams were cut off. My whole body felt numb and my head couldn't come up with a coherent thought. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling.

"BELLA!" Somebody was shouted my name, but my focus was still on his face as his was on mine. Suddenly, almost too suddenly I was being released to an angry Angela. She grabbed my arm tightly and started hauling me out of the cafeteria giving glares to anybody who tried to influence me to go back and beat Samantha to a pulp.

At first, I just followed, helping her the most I could by not falling over my own feet. Then, I started to have feeling again and the numbness went away.

"Where are we going?" I asked Angela just as we passed another hallway.

Her tone snapped at me, "I don't know, Bella. Where _won't_ you get in trouble?" Sarcasm. Angela used sarcasm.

I must have really made her mad, she never was sarcastic, other than when she was making a joke, and I never heard Angela snap at anybody, not even Mike Newton. I felt angry with myself for even giving in to Isabella.

"I'm sorry, Angela." She stopped at a couple of deserted lockers and examined me for a moment.

"I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to snap at you . . . it's just I don't want you to get in trouble with the principal. I just feel like I'm suppose to watch over you . . . like with a kid sometimes . . . " She offered me a small, apologetic smile. I wondered if I should tell her I was like in a kid in some ways, but decided against it. It would only bring up questions that would ultimately lead to the truth. I didn't want to lose Angela, not yet.

"I'll try to keep my temper in check from now on." I promised her.

She smiled slightly, "That might be a hard thing for you to do."

If I remembered to take my medication, I'd be fine. "It'll take some time getting used to."

We hung out by the lockers and talked about nothing of importance until the bell rang, then we parted ways and I went to my next class, Bio class. I stopped by my locker quickly to get my books and then made it to the classroom within the time limit. As I glanced up toward, my lab table, I saw another person sitting there . . . Edward freaking Cullen. I lowered my head and made my way to my seat, I could feel not only his eyes, but a few other eyes burning holes into my skull. I tried to ignore then and simply opened my textbook to correct page getting ready to take some more notes.

Mr. Banner started class and all went fine until I decided to glance up at Edward. He glared at me, his eyes were hard butterscotch and his mouth set in a hard line. I heard myself gasp and looked down at my book quickly. I tried to distract myself but his facial image seemed to burn inside my head and kept replaying over and over, like visions.

I let my hair hang over my face creating a curtain between us. I was able to concentrate a little better but I was always tempted to look over at him to see if the frustration was still lingering on his face. Mr. Banner ended class five minutes early allowing us to chat or start on other homework, I started gathering my things together and noticed Edward out of the corner of my eye. He still had the same expression on his face as he looked at me but this time he seemed to try to soften it a little, it still looked really lethal to me. I noticed his hands gripping the table as if for dear life. Before I could make any more observations the bell rang and he jumped up startling me. He was out of the door before anybody had managed to get up.

Speed. Cold skin. Strength. Maybe my dream wasn't so far fetched . . . but the blood? That was just silly.

I sighed picking up my books and nearly bumped into Mike Newton. He was grinning widely at me and fell right in step next to me starting some more conversation.

"I heard it's going to snow soon." He sounded oddly cheerful about it.

"I better chain my tires." I smiled slightly at the mental image of me trying to do just that. Mike nodded taking my comment seriously. After several seconds of silence he brought up a deeper subject.

"So, I know you probably don't want to talk about this-" I think I knew where he was headed. The fight was something I wasn't ready to discuss. I was a sore loser.

"You know correctly. I don't want to talk about this." I said picking up the pace. He quicken his too.

"Sorry," He looked at me with his baby face innocence, "Really." He seemed sincere. I didn't reply, just slowed down my pace a little so he knew I wasn't angry with him. He got the hint and then hit me with another topic.

"Do you remember a couple of weeks ago when I was trying to ask you something at lunch and then Eric kind of barged in?" His tone caught me off guard. Mike usually had a confidence to the way he said things, but now it was almost . . . shy. I thought back to the lunch and remembered the Yo Mama battle between Eric and Tyler. I think Eric said something to Mike and he walked off but I wasn't sure.

"Sort of." I replied, and we almost were at the locker rooms.

"Well I was trying to ask you if you wanted to go sometime." I froze. Mike was confused by the sudden halt turned around and walked back to me. I composed my expression and looked back to his face which was studying mine. He was blushing faintly.

"Oh, you were?" I asked stalling walking again toward the locker room. He followed like my shadow.

_C'mon, c'mon, c'mon just a few more feet!_

"Yes, I did. I was just wondering-"

_SUCCESS! MADE IT!_

_Now shake him off._

"-if you wanted too. Like a movie or something." He looked at me hopefully and I tried to mirror his sincerity he had portrayed as I recycled a lie.

"Mike, I don't date." I said just as I had said to Jacob Black. Mike's face automatically fell, but he tried to hide it with a fake smile as he brushed it off.

"Oh, well . . . maybe next year?" He joked watching me desperately as I inched toward the girl's locker room.

"We'll see?" I replied as I dashed into the cool area. Immediately I relaxed. The only problem would be going back out into the gym only to see him again, but I was sure that Coach Clapp would keep us too busy to be able to keep up conversation. Or at least I hoped.

I quickly changed into my gym shorts and shirt. I shoved the rest of my clothes into my gym locker and slammed it closed. I hated the way that my uniform hung on me like an oversized dress making it look like I had no figure. I knew for a fact I was plain, but I just didn't see why we had to emphasize that point.

Just as I was about to exit the locker room and make my way into the gym Jessica decided to makes friends.

"Hey, Bel-lah!" She dragged out the syllables. I rolled my eyes before turning around, to face the little curly bitch who apparently was Samantha's little information source.

_Let's rip a few of those curls and set her straight._

_How about we don't? Let's be good like we _promised_ Angela we would._

_I think Angela would be forgiving about this little bitch._

_No. We're not doing this._

I agreed with Bella. Violence, as much as it suddenly seemed appealing to me, was not the answer. I simply greeted Jessica and starting walking out into the gym area with her on my heels trying to extract as many details about the fight that she could.

"So what did the note say?" Her eyes were bright as a kid on Christmas. Could everybody already know there was a note involved?

"I forgot, something about me calling her a bitch." I replied curtly as I stretched my right leg. Jessica sounded disappointed when she spoke.

"You don't have it?" I glanced sideways at her, she cocked her head at me and reminded me faintly of a dog waiting for a treat. I looked back down, my hair covering my amused smile.

"No. Samantha had it." Jessica seemed deep in thought for a second and I gratefully took the chance at silence to switch legs and now stretched my left.

"I thought you were going to punch her." Jessica commented and I groaned internally, sometimes Jessica ranked right up there with Mike Newton when it came to being annoying.

"I thought so too." I remembered being held back by Edward and now the memory gave me a weird sensation of butterflies and being light headed all over again. I was glad my face was covered with my hair so Jessica wouldn't see the blush I felt on my face.

"Maybe you guys will work this out." Jessica seemed careful when she said this. I turned my head again to see her expression. It seemed sincere to anybody who couldn't lie, but the look didn't touch her eyes. She wished we wouldn't. It would produce more fights and create gossip which was where Jessica came in.

I shrugged and stopped stretching my legs. Coach Clapp came out and I stood listening to him tell us what we were doing today. We would be playing volleyball. Before I could try to even feign sickness to get out, he automatically started dividing us. Girls versus girls. Boys versus boys. I worriedly walked toward my team, they already knew I was a clumsy person and devised a plan of working around me. Even if we had a play of action, I still was a sucky player and that gave the other team an advantage . . . and they used it. The final score after the long game was 9 - 2. The other team being the one with nine.

I quickly changed into my clothes and retrieved my books walking through the locker room entrance as I exited toward the parking lot. I made it to my truck without incident and opened the door shoving my books inside. I jumped inside shutting my door and turned on the heater.

_Why did it have to be so cold?_

I rubbed my hands together trying to create some sort of friction. After my hands warmed up a bit I started pulling out and checked my rear view mirror. I slammed on my brakes right before I hit a car passing behind me. The next car didn't come so I quickly pulled out of my space and drove out of the parking lot. Through the corner of my eye I swore I saw the pixie-like sister of Edward's grinning at me shaking her head as if to say 'Silly Bella', although it could have been my mind playing tricks on me.

An essay, math homework, and two phone calls -one from Angela, one from Jessica- later I was eating dinner with Dad. He wasn't mentioning the "fight" today so maybe it didn't get around yet. He talked about the slow day at work and then just ate the rest of his steak in silence.

"Dad?" Maybe I could ask him about the Cullens.

"Hmm?" He replied looking up at me as he chewed a piece of the meat.

_Are the Cullens supernatural? Are they super heroes? Do they work out a lot? Are they on steroids? Have they had plastic surgery? Will you let them adopt me? _That wasn't a question but more like a request . . .

"I've met these kids at school, the Cullens," Dad stopped chewing and swallowed looking at me seriously, my nerves jumped a little, "a-and I was wondering why they're outcasts." I looked down at my hands then back to Charlie.

Dad huffed and looked slightly irritated. "Those kids are great children. They're very well behaved. I had my doubts at first, but they've never caused any trouble. Their father, Dr. Cullen is an asset to this community and his wife Mrs. Cullen -from what I've heard- is an angel." Dad seemed to feel strongly about the Cullens. I quickly backtracked.

"Of course. They seem very nice," _except for the staring at me like I have two heads and leading me on wild goose chases_, "there's just people at my school who don't speak very highly of them."

Charlie shook his head in aggravation, "They're extremely kind people, just because they're newcomers people have to talk."

I nodded along with Charlie and ate the rest of my dinner quietly. When dad finished dinner, he put his hands on his stomach and sighed in content.

"That was good, Bells." He looked sleepy.

"I'm glad you liked it. We still have leftover cheesecake . . . , did you want any?" I asked. I laughed when his eyes brightened at the news and took that as a yes. I cut his a generous slice and walked back to the table. Suddenly I was hit with a strong feeling of déjà vu. Charlie reached for the cheesecake and began to eat it in bliss. I was glad he was unaware of my sudden episode and I quickly excused myself to the living room.

I knew for a fact I've never done this before, so was no way could my déjà vu simply be my memory showing me I've done this before. The only way I could have seen this before would be in a vision . . . and seeing as I only had visions of death, you can see why I'm freaking out. The phone started ringing shrilly making me jump and I went back into the kitchen. Charlie had already beat me there and was talking on the phone in a hushed, serious tone. After he hung up, he looked at me and shook his head before grabbing his jacket and pulling it on.

"There's been a robbery down at the Newton shop. People close by heard the alarms and called it in. I've got to go and investigate the scene."

That's when it suddenly all made sense. This was Charlie's death . . .

There was only two options I had. I could either let nature take course and let my father die. Or I could save his life and let somebody else die taking his place?

That other person could have a family though. A wife or husband, children, parents, sisters, and brothers. People who would mourn their death and possibly suffer massive heartbreak. But could I lose Charlie? Could I manage to go to a foster home for another year until I was an adult? Would I survive not losing one, but two of my parents?

I still stood there undecided on my new plan of action and heard the door slam behind me, Charlie was going to stop a robbery . . . and he wasn't going to come home.


	12. Confession Time

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.**

**Reviews/Favs/Alerts are all appreciated.**

**I have to give a shout-out to Angel JJK, thanks for giving me an idea(:**

**Pay close attention in this chapter! **

* * *

I sat there in the unfamiliar room for the longest time just wondering what the hell I did and how the hell I did it.

I had my knees pulled up against my chest and arms around them. I was shaking furiously, I realized awhile ago that it wasn't an earthquake. On top of that, all I felt was dread and pain.

It wasn't suppose to happen this way. I wasn't suppose to do this. It went against what I believed.

Tears threatened to fall, but never did. They were just reminders that I did something unforgettable and for that I would suffer. And I was suffering, immensely so.

I felt a cool touch on my shoulder, and I lifted my face to meet Dr. Cullen's. I still felt the urge to throw myself across the room when he looked at me, but I fought it, if anything I deserved death now. Death would give me some peace of mind.

"Miss Swan, it's getting late. Would you like me to give you a ride home?" Dr. Cullen asked using a soft tone. I shook my head. My voice had been useless over the past couple of days.

I looked back at Charlie who lied in the hospital bed still unconscious from the drugs they kept injecting into his unmoving body. The coolness was removed and he kept his voice low.

"He will recover, Miss Swan, I promise you that. It's best if you get some rest though." I tried to shrug although it was difficult seeing as I still was shaking.

Dr. Cullen didn't try to offer me any more medication as he did earlier or calm me down. He learned earlier I wouldn't put up with either. It reminded me too much of the institution and I couldn't deal with those memories, not now.

Speaking of medication, I wish I had made sure to take my pill earlier, the voices wouldn't talk often, but when they did it was for longer periods of time and usually they fought.

_You are so selfish! How could you do this?_

_You wouldn't have survived without Charlie. You did the right thing._

_YOU KILLED SOMEBODY, YOU LITTLE BITCH!_

_NOBODY KNEW HIM, BELLS!_

_He was still a person!_

_Well now he's a corpse, get over it!_

My thoughts were broken off by somebody knocking on the door. I looked up as Jacob and Harry came through the doorway. As soon as Jacob noticed my stance he came over quickly and wrapped me in a hug.

I could always count on Jacob to be there for me, even if I didn't deserve it.

Tears started coming. Jacob pulled away to wipe them away with his thumb gently.

"It's gonna be fine, Bells. He'll be fine." Jacob, like everybody else, misunderstood my sorrow.

I wasn't upset about Charlie, I knew he would be fine. I saw a new vision as soon as I intervened with this one. Charlie would live until he was crinkly.

I was upset because I messed with death. Charlie _should_ have died. Dave _shouldn't_ have.

Jacob picked me up like I was nothing and set me on his lap. I wanted to push him away before he got the wrong idea, but I didn't have the heart to. I needed him right now, and I'd pay for the consequences later.

Harry came over to where we were. He looked bewildered and tried to look at me, I avoid his eyes and hid my face into Jacob's warm jacket.

"What happened, Bella?" Harry asked.

I unwillingly had a flashback.

OOO

I couldn't lose Charlie. He was my everything right now. I jerked the door open and it slammed against the wall as I ran outside to the driveway screaming his name. I stopped dead when I saw his cruiser gone.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" I cursed as I ran back inside for my keys. I found them quickly and slammed the front door behind me. I made it to my truck quickly and proceeded to pull out of the driveway without hesitation.

I drove as fast as my truck could go without shaking like it would fall apart.

At the same time as I was trying to devise a plan of action I was also trying to come up with an excuse encase this wasn't Charlie's death but simply a close call.

That excuse wouldn't be needed though. I pulled up in the Newton's store's parking lot and already saw Charlie's police cruiser along with another here. I jumped out of my vehicle and shut my door quietly.

I walked swiftly toward the store and saw Charlie confronting a man dressed in all black with a ski mask. The other cop - who I would later find out was Dave - was outside talking seriously into his walkie-talkie.

The burglar's body language was enough to the hair on the back of my neck stand on edge. He was stiff with tension, like at any moment he'd pull that damn gun from his back pocket and-

I took a deep breath and ran toward Dave who was on the walkie-talkie. He noticed me immediately and stopped talking. He walked toward me halting me.

"Ma'am? Ma'am! This is a crime scene. You can't come-," He must have noticed my face, I was avoiding his for that reason, "Bella? What the hell- Look, you can't go in there!" I tried to push past him, but he had a firm hold on me.

"I just need to see my dad!" I tried to break his grip. He wasn't letting up.

"Bella, you need to go home. Your father will be home shortly."

_No, he wouldn't._

I broke the grip and heard a string of profanities along with footsteps behind me. I ran through the store right in front of the burglar along with Dave on my tail. That's when I heard the gunshot.

I turned to see Dave on the hardwood floor twitching and bleeding. I felt a scream building in my throat when I was grabbed roughly by my hair and pulled toward the back of the shop.

I started screaming and Dad ran after me. When Charlie caught up with my kidnapper, I was dropped and heard fighting. I pushed myself to the corner that was the furthest from the battle sounds.

Charlie was trying to reach his gun, but the burglar was skilled and knew exactly what my father was trying to do. My dad took more than enough blows while he tried to pin the man.

Finally, the burglar had enough and managed to shoot Charlie. Charlie collapsed onto the ground and I screamed ignoring the criminal and dropping to my father's side.

"Dad!" I examined him, his eyes were still open, but clearly tortured. It was his leg, that bastard shot my father in the leg. I looked up and around for the criminal, but he had already run away.

I heard sirens outside signaling the backup that was already too late. My dad passed out and I walked over to Dave who had stopped twitching, but still was bleeding. His eyes were still opened and I made the mistake of looking into them.

OOOO

I was running after me. I pumped my legs one after the other trying to reach . . . myself.

_Got to stop the Bella. She's going to-_

My own thoughts were cut off by feeling this sharp and horrible pain in my chest. I gasped at it and hit the floor.

_Was I . . . just shot?_

The pain slowly turned into numbness and my blood felt cold. I tried to look for help. Charlie. Myself. Anybody. Nobody was there.

Then all there was, was darkness.

OOOO

_What the hell was that? Was I in his body?_

That pain, those thoughts, the feelings. I shuddered and felt myself start to shake. My breathing hitched and came out like pants, and before I could calm myself down, I fainted.

OOO

"Bella?" I heard Billy. The confusion was evident in his voice, hell everybody was confused. I was the only one who knew it all, but I couldn't say anything. I just didn't know how to.

I was going to have to come up with a good story of why I came to the crime scene in the first place before I could start spouting off facts of the whole situation.

_You see, I have visions of how people will die and have died. I saw my father die . . . I was trying to prevent that by somehow interfering with it and ended up killing Dave._

Yeah, that would go over smoothly.

Jacob rubbed my arm and I finally replied to Billy.

"I don't want to talk about it." My voice was very low. It sounded like a kid who just broke his mother's vase and didn't want to get caught. In many ways, that was just like this situation, just replace mother's vase with father's partner.

"Okay, okay. I'll just talk to the doctor," Billy said, his voice sounded calm, but I doubted that's how he really felt, "You take care, Bella." I felt Jacob place me back in the chair gently and gave me a hug to which I didn't respond to. They both left closing the door behind them.

After a couple of hours I pulled up a chair next to Charlie and looked at his old, but loving face. I felt overwhelmed with the love I had for him. I laid my head down on his bed and held his IV-ed hand.

I decided to confess everything to this unconscious Charlie. My eyes pricked with tears, but my voice stayed strong, yet low.

"I never stopped seeing the visions, Dad," I took a death breath, "I still see how people are going to die . . . and I saw how you were going to die."

His facial expression never changed and the only thing that did move was his chest while he took deep breaths.

"And you were going to die, but I couldn't let that happen. I was afraid I would lose more of my mind. You see, after Renee died . . . and you made me get institutionalized . . . I went insane . . . I still am. But! I think I'm ready to get help. Maybe I can stop Isabella- the voice, that's her name . . . that sounded really crazy didn't?" I winced, but still courageous. I continued, not letting anything stop me from confessing this all to Charlie.

"There's two voices actually . . . Bella and Isabella. Isabella is the bad one and Bella is the good one. I try to listen to Bella, but lately . . . Isabella has gotten the better of me." I re-crossed my ankles.

"That's why I nearly got into a fight at school . . . it's also why I get mad so fast . . . She's got some sort of control over me unless I take my prescription." I took another deep breath and let it out slowly.

"I hope you still love me, Dad. Even if I'm a freak." I kissed his hand and leaned back into my chair.

I felt oddly calm and relaxed, my secret was out and with my father . . . well sort of with my father. I heard a footstep and looked into the eyes of a beautiful woman.

The odd calm feeling disappeared completely. Her eyes were big and golden exactly like the Cullens, her posture straight, but tense.

"Who are you?" _And how much do you know?_

"I'm Mrs. Cullen, Carlisle, your doctor, is my husband."

No wonder she was so beautiful, all the Cullens were. Her caramel colored locks hung loosely to her shoulders and her clothes were simple, a pencil skirt with a blouse. She definitely looked like a mother figure.

I blew off that thought before it could damage me.

"And how long have you been standing there?" My voice broke and I set my eyes downcast.

"Long enough." She whispered.


	13. Mother Figure

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.**

**Reviews/Alerts/Favs are all appreciated(;**

* * *

_Long enough?_

_That's not very helpful._

_I think we get the point though, she's heard most of the conversation, Bell._

_Let's hope she didn't hear the part about you confessing to your visions._

I ran my hand through my hair and looked up at the woman standing diagonally from me. I avoided her thoughtful gaze.

"I can explain." I spoke to the wall, but out of the corner of my eye, I could see her shaking her head.

"It's none of my business, Bella. This is strictly between your father and you . . . I would just hope you _would_ tell your father." Her voice held so much authority that I felt compelled to do what she said, even though she held no authority over me.

I nodded and looked at her shoes so I wouldn't look as rude as did when I was looking at the wall. The next question bubbled to my lips before I could hesitate and think it through.

"Are you going to tell anyone?" I looked up briefly to see her shaking her head once again. Before I could lower my head again, she spoke up.

"I would- could never do that to somebody," She looked like she was struggling to find the right words, "Bella, this is your . . . _own_ business, it shouldn't be flaunted about like gossip. I've never been one for that anyway." She seemed to have this strong disapproval on her face and I wondered if this came from a prior situation.

"I'm sorry I came in here without announcing myself. Carlisle wanted me to check on you and see if you still didn't want a ride home . . . I could drive you. I just finished dropping off . . . his lunch." She paused slightly as she spoke the last part making me curious again.

I looked at Charlie automatically. I've been refusing to leave his side simply because of fear. I still didn't have my alibi for why I ran after Charlie and I didn't want him speaking up until I knew my story front wards and backwards.

"He's going to be fine, Bella. He's strong and will make a full recovery in no time. It won't hurt to get some sleep while he is too." She had a way of putting things, and it wasn't like everybody else's way. She seemed to suggest things instead of trying to push and force me to do them.

I nodded at her and got up. I moved the chair back to its original space and walked to Mrs. Cullen's side. I quickly glanced up at her to see why we weren't moving. She appeared stunned that I actually took her up on her invitation. I wondered if she wished I didn't.

"I would appreciate the ride home . . . unless of course, you don't want to . . . " I trailed off as she gave me an incredulous look.

"I wouldn't mind taking you home at all, honey. It's no trouble." She gently, but swiftly opened the door to my surprise. Being a woman of her size, it seemed nearly impossible for her to have such strength or speed. Then again, the Cullens did have that sort of strange ability.

I didn't mean to judge them, but it was just so weird. They all were so standoffish without being standoffish. They all, from what I observed were quick. They also were very observant, much like myself.

Edward and Carlisle's skin was always cool, from when they both touched me. Of course, maybe that was just my mind trying to trick me because of my blood lust dream.

Not to mention they both seemed to have super-hearing, I could also add Esme to that category now too. I did keep my voice low when I was speaking to Charlie and even if she was only diagonally from me, all she should have heard were murmurs.

And now, I could add strength to that. Esme and Edward had both shown me that they possessed strength. Opening a door of such weight, and so quickly too had to require something in the muscle department.

So what did that classify the Cullens as?

I wanted to go with albinos on steroids, but that still didn't cover everything they could do. What about being standoffish, observant, and having excellent hearing?

Esme broke me from my thoughts as she quickly pecked Carlisle's cheek. I had to admit their love was a cute thing to witness, and if I wasn't so frightened of Dr. Cullen I might have aww'ed. Carlisle embraced her gently before releasing her to look at me, a smile on her face.

He wasn't a bad looking man at all, it was just the fact he kept killing people that I kept my distance. Not to mention he was in some sort of mafia mob. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

"I doubt Charlie will wake up until tomorrow afternoon anyway. Will you be able to get here tomorrow?"

I realized my truck was still at the Newton shop. I sighed and shook my head, his facial expression didn't change, he was still carefree. He lifted his gaze to Esme.

"I'd be happy to give you lift back to here tomorrow, Bella." Esme replied at I looked at her joyous face before staring at the tiles on the floor.

"I don't want to be a bother." My voice was low again.

"It's no trouble, I insist." I nodded and looked back up. She gave a smile to Carlisle and said goodbye, before I knew it we were in her Mercedes. I felt intimidated by it and internally refused to be driven to the hospital in this luxury car tomorrow.

"Esme, I wanted to ask you a favor . . . "

"Sure thing." She didn't even hesitate to help me, god bless this woman.

"My truck is still at in the Newton's parking lot and I just hoped that maybe you'd drop me off sometime to get it . . . maybe tomorrow?" Even I could hear the desperation in my plea.

She gave me a knowing look, but only for a split second before her face returned to the road . . . almost like an alarm went off in her head to not let them stray from the street.

"Would you like me to drop you off before you go to the hospital?" She seemed a little amused. I wish I knew what was funny.

"Yes, ma'am."

_What was this woman doing to me? How long has it been since I called somebody ma'am? Why did I even call her ma'am?_

She grinned a little. "You'd be more comfortable driving in your own vehicle to the hospital, wouldn't you?"

Oh. That's what was funny. Clearly, I was being an open book again and she could see how much I opposed the Mercedes.

"I would. No offense, but your car makes me feel like I'm a superstar."

She looked puzzled. "Do you not want to be a superstar?"

I could understand her confusion. Most teenage girls were obsessed with being rich and famous. Not to mention the spotlight, and if it wasn't pointed on them it was like the apocalypse just happened.

"I've never been one for attention." I smiled meekly at her. She nodded.

"I agree. Attention doesn't usually help situations. My family and I like our privacy too." She sighed and pulled into my driveway.

I was momentarily distracted by this new piece of information that I didn't even have time to be disturbed about Esme knowing where I lived. Then again it was a small town and Edward knew where I lived too. He easily could have told his mother or father.

I unbuckled my seatbelt and thanked Esme for the ride to my house. She told me once again that she didn't mind, she said it was boring being home all the time and it was refreshing to get out.

I wondered if that was hinting that she didn't go out very often, that would be yet another thing we'd have in common. I considered myself a firm homebody.

Esme left after giving me her phone number to call once I was ready for her to pick me up for tomorrow.

I opened the front door and walked into the house and shutting it behind me. I locked the door and turned on the lights . . . it was exactly like I left it.

Dishes on the dinner table long forgotten and food still sitting on the counter and stove, spoiled. Charlie's chair was pulled out still, never pushed in.

More tears pricked at my eyes as I could see the scene play out before me. I took another deep breath and let it out slowly. I couldn't let a stupid mess remind me of that night.

I quickly cleaned up the kitchen and shoved Charlie's chair under the table with unnecessary force. I went upstairs and took a shower to relax then I changed into my pajamas.

I brushed my hair absentmindedly as I listened to Muse play in the background. Between the lead singer's vocals and my rhythmic brush strokes I was nodding off. I set down my brush and turned down my CD player so that sleep was possible.

I quickly drifted off to sleep and it was strangely comforting and peaceful.

My heart thumped uneasily as I stepped into a beautiful mansion of a home. Edward appeared quite literally out of nowhere. He smiled at me and removed my jacket that I just now noticed I was wearing.

Gently he took my hand and I felt an electric hum coarsed through our entwined fingers. His hands were freezing, it felt like I was holding hands with a popsicle.

And suddenly things started setting into place.

It didn't matter that Edward was twenty times richer than I'd ever be, it didn't matter that he was colder than me, it didn't even matter that he was smarter than I ever could imagine, none of it did.

All that mattered was Edward loved me . . . and I loved him.

He looked down at me as I had my epiphany and gave me a crooked smile, his golden eyes appeared bright.

"What are you thinking?" His velvet voice asked.

"I was thinking, that I love you . . . and you love me . . . and nothing else matters." I smiled at how true my words were.

His smile turned into a full-blown grin and I was momentarily dazzled.

"That's why were here."

He leaned down pressing his hard, cold marble lips to my soft, human ones.

I woke up before the kiss could be finished and debated whether or not it was fit worthy. I decided against it and flopped onto my pillow overjoyed to finally have a good nights rest and a good dream.

I replayed it over in my mind while I could still remember it. The one thing that stood out the most was the last part.

_He leaned down pressing his hard, cold marble lips to my soft, human ones._

_Human?_

What was that suppose to mean? And what did that make Edward?

I called Esme as soon as I was finished getting ready to visit Charlie, but instead of getting her voice, I got another.

"Hello?" The velvet voice that just starred in my dreams asked.

_EDWARD!_

_Remain calm, Bella._

_OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!_

_Be cool._

"Hello, it's Bella . . . Swan? And uh, I was just wondering if Mrs. Cullen was there . . . because she's going to give me a ride to my truck . . . " I trailed off.

_Way to go . . . _

_Why don't you just stamp __**LOSER **__across your forehead?_

"She's been kidnaped and taken to the mall. If you wanted, I could drive you to your truck." He suggested.

_I swear to god, if you dare pass up the chance to ride with Edward I will sing the song that never ends nonstop for the next two days._

"Thanks, I'd really appreciate that."

"Should I come over now?" I looked at my clothes and cringed in horror. I was wearing a sweatsuit outfit, but now that I was going to be seen by Edward this outfit seemed to scream lazy bum.

"Sure, I'm just about done." I said estimating how much time it would take me to scout a pair of jeans and a decent shirt.

"Alright, I'll be over soon." Not too soon, I hope.

"Okay, thank you. Bye." I hung up.

Maybe that was rude . . . , should I have waited for him to say bye? Probably.

I didn't have time to worry about goodbyes. I had about five minutes to change. Quickly I ran back up my stairs and changed into some blue jeans and a blue blouse. I ran into the bathroom and brushed out my dull brown hair holding some annoying pieces out of my face with a barrette.

I was applying some eyeliner when I heard the front doorbell ring. I finished applying it and walked downstairs checking myself out.

_Teeth. Check. Hair. Check. Nose Passageways. Check._

I opened my front door and nearly exploded.

"Hello, Bella." Edward was a god. There wasn't any other word for him. He was wearing a simple red sweater and some khakis, but he'd never looked so beautiful.

_Absolutely breathtaking._

"Hey, Edward." I smiled at him.

The dream had royally screwed me.

I liked Edward Cullen. And I wanted to make my dream reality.

**Special thanks to: Becky Dixon, Melissa Cullen since 1994, Angel JJK, FICTIONAL-STAR, ochiteirutenshi, VictoriaRc, xJenalaylayx1901, XxShadowDragonxX, verox29, mrsnessieblack, HARAJUKU LOVER101, Mgirl30311, Roni-Baby, Maywee, Mary-Alice-Brandon-Cullen-96, ..., and all the anonymous reviewers!**

**Thanks for the support(:**

**I'll update new weekend.**

**Love you guys,**

**Sam**


	14. Home Again

**SORRY. I LOVE YOU.**

**:D It's been awhile... okay, awhile is an understatement, but this story takes time :) It's like a wine... it must age to taste good... no, don't lick the computer!**

**I don't own Twilight. Or anything else I might have mentioned that could/would/should sue me a lot of money I don't have.**

**But I do own the plot... sort of? Ah, hell I don't know. Just READ.**

* * *

There he was. The man who starred in so many of my confusing dreams.

I blanked out for a minute, just letting the bliss take over. I let my eyes ogle him like any of the other girls at school would, but not as long as they might. I quickly skimmed up his legs, which were covered by his khakis like usual, then moved up his chest taking in his arms as well. His arms and chest were muscular, yet not so muscular that it took away from the rest of his body. Finally, his face. I could go on and on about Edward Cullen's face. Every feature seemed sculpted by only the most graceful artist, each of them completely symmetrical and angular in the extreme. He _was_ a Greek god. I know I've compared him again and again to one, concisely and not, but there were no other words in my vocabulary that would be worthy enough to be describing such a person.

It was then I realized how much I idolized Edward Cullen.

I blushed at my discovery and looked down at my shoes.

_How perfect is he?_

_I know what you mean, Bells._

_I'm getting obsessed._

_I am too. Look at that face! How could you not get obsessed?_

"Bella?" I had to look up at him then. I was a slave to that velvety voice. I'd be damned if I didn't love every moment of it too.

"Yes?" I answered automatically, looking up into his liquid golden eyes.

_Another mystery._

"Should we get going?" Edward asked gesturing with his eyes to the Volvo.

_We should, but wouldn't you rather come upstairs? I have fresh bed sheets._

I shook my head clearing it of all dirty thoughts trying to get me off track, "Yes, I'm sorry . . . I'm a little befuddled this morning." I admitted following him onto the porch.

He turned back for a moment to smile slightly and reply, "I am too."

Before I could finish locking the door, he had already made it to the car. He opened the passenger's door in his strange, gentlemanly fashion.

_Speedy as usual. _

_He's either ignorant to the fact we're more observant than your average human or oblivious to it._

I smiled at him and got in. He shut my door and started walking around to his side.

_Has it ever occurred to you how weird the Cullens act, Bells?_

I lost my smile. The voices just had to ruin this perfect moment, didn't they? As if it wasn't awkward enough between Edward and me.

_It has, as if they're from another time period . . . _

Edward got in and started up the car. He put his hand on the back of my headrest - causing my heart to flutter at the proximity to him - and pulled out of my driveway.

_Exactly my point. Edward, Carlisle, and Esme all have this sort of grace to their presence, something that's not been around for ages . . . _

_Are you suggesting they're old, Is?_

_Yes._

_But couldn't they just have more of an intellectual mind-set than most people?_

Edward asked something, but I couldn't hear his words. The voices were onto something and had my full attention.

_They could, but Bells, let's be serious, Edward can't be more than nineteen._

_Maybe his adoption matured him, or Carlisle and Esme's ways may have rubbed off on him. You can't judge a person by their age. How would you like to be considered immature because you're seventeen?_

_Hear me out. We're not only talking about maturity Bella, but the fact they act old._

"Bella? Are you all right?" Edward asked, I managed to pull myself out of the voices' conversation to reply to him.

"I'm fine, just a lot on my mind . . . " I really did.

"I can tell. I'm not sure you should be driving in this sort of state. Would you mind if I dropped you off at the hospital and picked you up later?" He offered.

"What about my truck?" How would I visit tomorrow?

"I'll drop it off at your house if you'd like . . . that is, if you trust me." There was a hint of a challenge in his tone. His smile turned to a smirk.

"Charlie says not to trust strangers." I played along. I was liking this game more than I probably should.

"Not me anyway," He lost his smirk before replacing it with a smile, I wasn't sure if it was real or fake, "You can trust me on this though, I would not steal your truck." Edward chuckled to emphasis his point.

"Ouch." I mocked hurt glancing out the window.

We had arrived at the hospital and the car conversation dried up, but my voices continued theirs.

_How are the Cullens old?_

_The way they talk, the way they dress, and their morals, from what we've heard . . . It's all old-fashioned._

_Not all old-fashioned though, they all live together and are all__** together**__. How is that old-fashioned?_

_You mean the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing? I was going with something like what used to go on in villages. A small group of people, married throughout, and brought closer because of it._

_But it's smaller than a village._

_I'm sorry, how about a hamlet? Does that work for you, princess?_

_No need to get bitter. I do see what you're saying, but I just don't get the point. They have old ways, so they're old souls?_

_Like I said, maybe. They could just _be_ old._

_Ha, forever frozen in time . . . actually it sounds pleasant._

_It does, but it's impossible._

I managed to pull myself of the voices' conversation only to find myself in the hospital walking toward Charlie's room with Edward. I had no memory of getting out of the car or anything from that point to now . . . like my body had been on autopilot.

We stopped at Charlie's door. Edward looked apologetically at me.

"I should get going, but I'll pick you up later. Your car will be at your house, as promised. Take care of yourself," He paused and glanced at Charlie through the window then turned his attention back to me, "and I wish your father the best of luck." His apologetic look faded into a light smile. The light smile and the combination of his eyes had an effect on me that made me catch my breath.

_Get yourself together! The Greek god's waiting for your answer, stupid!_

I stared dumbfounded into his golden eyes, as if the answer would be hidden in them, "I . . . uh . . . cool."

He looked awkwardly at the tile on the floor, "Cool." He echoed and walked away.

The voices began beating me up over the lame answer as I walked into Charlie's room.

_Cool? What the hell?_

_You could have thanked him for the ride! And taking your car home! And picking you up later!_

_COOL? WHAT THE HELL?_

_I guess I'll let it slide, but you know much I hate rudeness, Bella._

_You're so unbelievably lame! I hate being confined to this lame head! I'd rather be in Samantha's._

I pushed my anger aside and sighed as I slid into the chair beside Charlie's bed. I looked at his face once again. There was more color to his complexion and his breathing wasn't as labored. He seemed like he was going to be all right.

Suddenly, the weight I had held on my shoulders over the past week seemed to lighten up. Everybody kept telling me: "He'll be fine." "He'll be okay." "He's a trooper." Finally, now it seemed truer than ever. Charlie would make it.

I found tears of relief running down my face, I gently wiped them away and took Charlie's hand.

"Thank you." I whispered to him as I sniffled. I smiled to myself for the first time in awhile and found some joy in my heart. He was going to make it. I was going to make it.

How wrong I was.

OOO

"C'mon, Dad!" I said as Jake helped push Charlie up the railway he'd built a couple days before, specifically for this day. I opened the door for both of them and Charlie rolled through making his way to the living room where Billy was. Jake and I shared a smile as we followed him.

It was kind of funny seeing Charlie and Billy both in wheelchairs watching TV. They apparently did too and shared jabs at each other about it. Luckily though, Charlie would only have to use the wheelchair when he was too exhausted to use his crutches. The cast would come off in a couple of months and he'd be able to walk as good as new according to Carlisle.

I started heating up some of Sue Clearwater's fish fry that she dropped off. She'd sent so much that it filled up our freezer. Sue was a real sweetheart and I was pretty sure she had a thing for Charlie, especially after I saw her light up when she saw Charlie awake at the hospital.

Jake came behind me and wrapped him arms around my waist. I jumped at the unexpected contact, from Jacob none the less.

"Jake, what are you doing?" I asked him bewildered.

"I, uh, was hugging you . . . " He covered as he let go of my waist. I turned around and inspected his face which was blushing, from being caught I guessed. I could clearly see the defeat in his eyes also. So I had been leading him on unintentionally.

I sighed and tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear, "Jacob-" I started.

He closed his eyes like he was in pain, "Don't say it." He interrupted.

I felt confused, "Say what?" I was going to apologize, Mr. Melodramatic.

"It. Don't say what you want to say, because I already know it, okay?" He explained vaguely and he avoided my curious eyes. Being unable to evade my expression any longer, he glanced at my face.

He sighed, "I know you don't like me, Bella."

"Then why do you-" He interrupted me again, which was starting to bug me.

"Because I wish you did," Jacob took my hand and pulled me closer, "To you, I'm just some kid-"

"A big kid." I piped in to try and ease his anguish and also trying to make some of the awkwardness go away.

He rolled his eyes, my comment lightening the mood a little, "-Some big kid who has a crush on you, but Bella can't you see? I could be so much more than that for you. I understand you. I care for you. More importantly, I really like you, and maybe it's even lo-"

Thankfully, the microwave beeped cutting off Jacob's confession. My hand slipped out of Jake's grip and I turned back to the microwave getting out the fish fry. I grabbed three plates out of the cabinet and felt Jacob's chest against my back. I stifled my gasp.

"Think about it, Bella." He insisted in a whisper at my ear. I could feel his hot breath rolling down my neck and shivered. He chuckled and left to join the men in the living room.

I gave generous portions to each plate and went into living room to serve the guys. Then I went back into the kitchen, not even pretending to be interested in the game. After cleaning it up, I started up the stairs hoping to avoid the guys for the rest of the night.

"You going to sleep, Bells?" Charlie called to me.

I walked over to the living room not wanting to shout, "Yeah, I'm tired." I could feel Jacob's eyes burning a hole in my head, but I avoided his.

"Did you eat?" Now's not the time to care, Charlie.

"No . . . " I replied truthfully. I waited for a few seconds for a reply, but got nothing. So I turned to leave.

"You okay?" I turned back around and met Charlie's eyes this time. Wow, he must be worried if he stopped watching the game.

"Fine, just not hungry." I insisted, kind of annoyed. Pestering wasn't his thing.

"Okay, well goodnight." Maybe he sensed it.

"Night."

I retreated back to the stairs and took my shower. After the shower, I felt a lot of tension remove itself from my muscles. I changed into my favorite pajamas and brushed out my hair. Once I finished brushing, I put Debussy's Clare De Lune in my old walkman and let the notes take me out my mental stress and floated into sleep.

OOO

I woke up in the morning to my alarm blaring over Debussy. The sound was not a good combination. I turned it off in haste, not wanting to wake up Charlie. I rolled off the bed and immediately walked over to the window. I was greeted by a faint sun.

I brushed out my haystack of hair clipping the annoying stray hairs out of my face. I put on some clean jeans and a tee-shirt, making a mental note to go shopping with Jessica or Angela soon and get some new clothes. No offense to Charlie, but his fashion sense is even more off than my own.

I walked downstairs to eat some breakfast since it would help give Charlie some "piece of mind" as he put it. Quickly, I checked the time and grabbed my book bag making my way to my old truck. I was at school eight minutes later and it was too late to realize my mistake, I forgot the medication again.

I sighed and slammed the truck door watching some rusty flakes fall onto the asphalt. I threw my backpack on and entered the high school.

I wasn't in there, but five minutes and I was assaulted by many people saying things like "Hope you dad's okay." "Tell Chief Swan I said 'get well'!" "You're so brave!" "What happened?"

I just nodded and shrugged them off, not really wanting to get into it again. I made it to my locker when I was approached by the Queen of Gossip herself.

"What the hell happened, Bella? It's like, crazy what I'm hearing! Did you really murder a burglar at the Newton shop? That's so badass of you! Try and get me to murder a burglar? Not on your life. Ha," She snorted, "And I heard your dad is like, in a coma? Gah, that sucks. Sorry, seriously. If my dad was in a coma, I'd be a total basket case. That would suck for my complexion, 'cause I get all puffy and red when I cry. It's totally ugly, but my mom used to think it was cute when I was kid . . . my mom's weird," She gave me this serious look, like I should really watch out for the lady, "So, what's up? Like, seriously! Half of these are rumors, so what's the real scoop?"

Rather than focus on how annoyed I was, I thought about the positive side of Jessica. She spreads information _fast_. Now would be a good time to get out my "story" of what happened.

After talking to Charlie over the past couple of days, he mentioned nothing, not one breath of what happened at the shop. I wondered just how much he remembered.

I'd rather get my story out and about town and have Charlie manage to mesh his with mine to combine for a good cover, but suddenly . . . I just felt sick.

_Do it. Do it. Do it. COVER YOUR ASS, STUPID!_

_Bella . . . please. Leave it alone. Stop lying . . . granted, it's Jessica, but still . . . you're only going to cause more trouble for Charlie. Leave it alone._

_Shut up, Bells! COVER YOUR ASS_,_ SWAN!_

I choked. I knew what I could say, I'd made it up while watching Charlie rest. It was on the tip of my tongue! All I had to do was get the first word out then let the rest rush out like a river . . . but I couldn't. It's one thing to lie, but it's another thing to lie about a man's death and force somebody else to also lie to cover for you. As much as I wish I could be as kick ass as Jessica and Is wanted . . . I couldn't.

"I don't want to talk about it, Jessica." I told her honestly and closed my locker.

Her eyes widened at my answer, "What do you mean? Did something super-bad happen?"

"Goodbye, Jessica. I don't want to be late." I said emotionlessly then walked to my first period.

OOO

Charlie and I sat at the table for dinner. At first it went well. He made some comments on how my cooking skills were still spot on, he talked some about what he did that day, and he mentioned how he was looking forward to a game. After that had subsided, he asked the most common question that all parents ask almost daily, "How was school?"

Bad. "Good." I said poking at my meatball.

"What'd you do?" He asked twirling some noodles onto his fork.

Sat. Listened. Ate. Left. "Well, a lot of people wanted to know what happened . . . " I trailed off trying to push the spotlight off myself.

This got his attention, "What did you tell them?" He worded it carefully, which got my attention. Was Charlie trying to be stealthy?

"I told them nothing. I said I didn't want to talk about it." I admitted. I took a bite out of the large meatball to avoid talking.

"I guess that is true." He seemed disappointed, as if he wanted to talk about it.

_Now would be a good time to talk, Bella._

_Yeah, you should totally get Pops in on your story._

_OR you should just talk it out. I think that would help you guys bond._

_Bond? He's her dad and he set her off to an asylum . . . if he wanted to bond I don't think he would have done that._

_Whatever, Is._

"But, um, did you want to, you know, talk about it?" I asked puzzled.

He put his fork down to take the longest gulp of beer which only maximized the suspense.

"Sure, we can start with why you came after me. You know that's dangerous." He scolded.

"I got a bad feeling." It wasn't a total lie. I switched my ankles, a habit of mine I did when I lied.

_Oh, but I thought you _weren't_ lying, Bella._

_She isn't, Bells._

_She's leaving out IMPORTANT information. Didn't you tell Esme you'd tell your father about your gift? And us?_

_Gift. Hahaha. _

"So you decided to come rescue me?" He raised his eyebrow.

"I had too." You can't just die, Charlie. I need you.

"No, Bella. I would've been fine. Dave would've . . . " He trailed off averting his eyes from my face.

Was Charlie putting Dave's death on me? I already felt guilty enough, but really, did Charlie have to take the next step to make me feel even worse? As if I didn't already blame myself for my mother's death, but now Dave's as well! I bet Charlie even blamed mom's death on me too.

My rage was clear on my face because Charlie attempted to calm me down, "Bella, I'm not blaming you, what happens in life, happens. I just wish you wouldn't have made that decision . . . if I could do anything right now, I would go back in time and stop you." He rubbed his head.

_Then you would've died, you bastard!_

_Is! Don't call Charlie a bastard!_

_Well he is, Bella SAVED his life and he repays her by telling her she's a murderer . . . that's definitely going to help her progress. "Yeah, I totally get that you're a mental screw-up and you've blamed yourself forever for your mother's death and you have these weird visions, but guess what, you not only killed your father's love, but his best friend as well! Have a good day!"_

_I guess I kind of see your point . . . _

_He's a freakin' asshole._

I couldn't control myself, maybe that was Isabella taking control again, and yet again, I didn't want to stop her. I didn't know how to handle my anger, but Isabella did.

I threw the dish at the nearest cabinet and watched Charlie's mouth popped open, "You wish you could've stopped me? You'd be DEAD, Charlie. In the ground dead." I hissed at him.

Still taken aback by my sudden attitude change, he tried to gain control of the situation, "Bella, stop! You have no right to talk to me this way! I am the father! You are the child!"

I ignored him, he wasn't used to parenting and I could tell. The most he'd ever punished me for was staying out too long at night with a couple of friends when I was little. Even then, when he was done, he apologized for the harshness and took me out for ice cream.

But you know what? Maybe instead of lying so much, I should just tell Charlie the truth like Esme thought I should. It was time to drop the bombshell.

_No, Is. Not like this!_

"You sent me to an asylum! How good of a father can you be?" I laughed as he looked pained. A small part of me felt sick to my stomach while doing this. My father had been through so much heartache in his life, he didn't deserve anymore. That was a small part though . . . and nothing can stop Isabella once she starts.

"That's not the best part, Charlie! You don't know it, but your help did nothing for me," His face paled, "I'm still not cured. I still see the visions, Charlie." He seemed visibly shaken and his eyes bulged. I let it sink in for a few seconds before continuing.

"My visions saved your ass. If I didn't see how you would have died, you would have been the one killed at the Newton shop." I tried to make him feel a little better about the situation.

_How will that make him feel better? He's got to cope with so much now, Is. He's got a crazy daughter and wasted thousands of dollars on expenses that helped nothing._

Charlie still sat there, looking like he was going to have a heart attack. His features sobered me a lot and Isabella was slowly leaving. After a few more minutes, I was fully in control of myself.

I came toward him and he flinched. I ignored the hurt trying to make its way into my heart and I took his hand gently, speaking softly, "I'm no different than before . . . just a little," I smiled at my next word, "improved."

* * *

**No, Bella's not bipolar... it's her personalities :P**

**Isabella = Bitch ; Bells = Goody-goody ; Bella = Neutral**

**So for a quick review of Bella's status: She's slowly losing her sanity, again. Different personalities are taking hold. No, Bella doesn't know what the Cullens are, except that they aren't real humans. It's kind of annoying having to drag it out for so long :/ And as for Edward, since he's been spending more time with Bella he's managed to stand her scent, but is far from not wanting to eat her, which is why he wants her to not trust him.**

**:D Reviews/alerts/favs are all appreciated.**

**I don't know when I'll update again, but NO, I AM NOT GIVING UP! :D Quittin' is fer losers.**

**Love,**

**Sam :D (That's right, I love you... but not like in the stalkerish way...)**


	15. Stupid Van

****

Disclaimer: I don't own the Twilight Saga.

**Reviews/Favs/Alerts are all unexpected and appreciated.**

**They make me want to write :)**

* * *

Charlie ignored me for the next couple of weeks. Whenever he had to talk to me, he managed to narrow it down to least amount of words necessary.

I tried to not let his absence bother me so much, but every time he ignored my comment on a game or desperately tried to maintain a "safety" distance from me, it hurt.

Another problem that was becoming more and more evident was the Cullens. They would give me weird looks at school like they were expecting something. The only one who seemed to be the exception was the blond girl. She just gave me daggers a lot.

Luckily though, Edward and I had made more progress. We had conversations, short, but friendly ones. Other than Edward, I didn't converse with any of the other Cullens. The short, pixie-like Cullen seemed like she wanted to talk to me, but never made an attempt at it.

As I thought this over, I slid on the icy pavement. I absolutely loathed ice. I could handle rain, I _did_ live in Forks until I was twelve, but the ice was something I never really enjoyed. I made it to my truck and found the tires to have chains on them again. I almost did a double take. Charlie cared? _Still_?

_He loves you, Bella._

_Surprisingly._

I definitely didn't know how to respond to this. Maybe he was going to change soon. Maybe he'd finally try to get to understand me a little bit better. Perhaps we could have a stable father-daughter relationship. If that could happen, I wouldn't have to lie to him and he wouldn't have to doubt me ever again. Our family could heal.

I didn't dwell on it any longer for fear of the hope. If I started wanting it bad enough and it didn't happen, I'd be devastated.

_One day at a time._

Bells was right. With my visions, every minute I was alive was a minute I could alter. There wasn't any way I could plan my future. My visions planned my future. I didn't know if maybe one day I'd be blessed enough that they would disappear, which was something I wished for all too often. If they did, maybe then I could finally have control over my own life, but until then, I was a slave to them.

I shook my morbid thoughts and hopped into the truck. I turned the key and didn't jump at the roar for once. I smiled to myself and pulled carefully out of the driveway and drove to Forks High.

Rumors had flown around the school, thanks to Jessica, that whatever happened the night at the Newton shop was unspeakably horrid. Everyone at school used to give me these sympathetic looks and would wish my family the best, but it had died down now. My friends went back to joking around with me and even gave me the nickname: Kickass Swan, K.S. for short.

I turned off my truck, stuffing the key into a pocket. Sliding out of the truck, I noticed I wasn't the only one who just arrived. The Cullens did as well. Edward was already leaning against his Volvo as the rest of his family exited the car.

My breath caught looking at him and I averted my eyes back to my shoes as I tried to stick a solid landing. I somehow managed it and shut the door behind me. I leaned against the door trying to remember where I put the key so I could lock up the truck. As I dug through my bag, I heard tires screech. I looked up doubtfully and ran near the end of my truck to see what the commotion was about.

A van was making its way toward my truck. I would be squashed. I quickly looked for an escape route and my eyes met Edward's for a brief moment before I accidently looked into the pixie's.

_I was screaming in agony. The pain was relentless. All the doctors who were suppose to be taking care of me, were doing the opposite. I didn't understand why they purposely hurt me. Mother told them what was wrong. The visions. The damned visions. _

_Every day I hoped she'd come back for me. She said she'd come back. Who was I kidding? Nobody would want me._

_I'm a witch. A damned witch._

_Suddenly, I wasn't alone. A man, a gorgeous man was leaning down and put his lips to my ear. Fear ran up and down my spine, nearly freezing the blood in my veins._

"_He's coming. I'm sorry, Miss." With the confusing words still lingering in my mind, I barely registered the fact that he was getting close to my neck. Before I could scream out for help, as if they'd even come, he bit me._

_Soon, he pulled away and I could feel him carrying me to somewhere. I didn't really care because I felt warm. Ever since I arrived here, everything was cold. Now, the warmth was something I appreciated._

_But when the warmth turned to fire, the pain was too much and I blacked out._

I blinked and found myself in Edward's arms.

"W-What?" I looked around confused, but Edward constricted most of my movement.

"Bella? You're okay?" He looked surprised and his eyes examined me.

_What the hell happened?_

I took in my surroundings and found Edward and I in a tight jam between my vehicle and the van that had been skidding toward me earlier. There was a dent in the side of the van right where Edward was, almost like he had pushed it out of the way. Over the confusion and fuss in my own head, I heard screaming and yelling. Edward slowly pulled me up and held onto me. His hands touching mine made me shiver in delight and he apologized.

I stopped it short, "Don't. It feels nice." He gave me a puzzled look and I blushed at my words.

"How hard did you hit your head?" Edward asked and he put a hand to my head. I felt my blush redden even more.

"I-I'm not all that sure." I rambled.

He looked seriously at me, but before he could say what he wanted to, the ambulances' sirens drowned it out. Fear engulfed me. I didn't want to go to the hospital.

Quickly, I moved out between the two cars and Edward was on my heels. He picked me up, which I squeaked at, and started walking me over to one of the ambulances. I heard him trying to reassure the many people flooding me.

Before I could tell the EMT I was fine, Edward spoke for me, "She hit her head pretty hard when she fell." Edward's grip was replaced with other hands, taking me away.

"I AM fine!" I yelled as they strapped me in the back of the ambulance. Edward looked worried, but he was cut from my view as the door slammed.

OOO

After getting x-rayed, I was made to wait for the results. I sighed annoyed and found I wasn't the only one in the room. The guy with the van turned out to be Tyler and he also was in here.

"Bella! Are you all right?" He asked me worriedly. I looked him over. He was in worse shape then I was. Cuts and bruises covered a good portion of his body from what I could see.

"Fine as ever." I said with a small smile. He was visibly relieved and sighed, but winced at it.

"I'm so sorry. I lost control. The ice-"

"It's really okay, Tyler. I completely understand." I tried to reassure him.

"I've got to make it up to you though. I will. I promise." He seemed deep in thought now.

Just as he was going to add onto what he'd just said, Edward Cullen came through the door.

My heart sped up and butterflies tumbled in my stomach.

"Hello." He said sitting on the end of my bed. He seemed so normal, like this was something he did every day.

"Hi." I said breathlessly.

"Are you okay?" He asked me as he assessed me, once again.

"Yes," I sighed in annoyance, "They won't let me go, yet."

He smirked a little, "Well you did hit your head pretty hard."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, I don't even remember that." I'd been trying to remember anything about the incident, but kept coming up blank. All I could remember was the vision of pixie girl's future.

He chuckled, "Exactly."

I scowled and crossed my arms. Then it hit me. Edward had been leaning on his Volvo across the parking lot when the van was coming to hit me. Even if he had been the best runner on the track team, there was no way he would've made it there in that kind of time.

"How did you make it to my truck so fast?" I asked him.

If I didn't know him so well and noted most things about him, I wouldn't have noticed the hardening of his eyes, "I was standing right next to you, Bella."

I shook my head, clearly remembering that he was at his Volvo, "No. You're lying." I whispered lowly to him, not wanting Tyler to hear.

He looked bemused, and his eyes tried to persuade me, but desperation was now evident, "Bella, I was-"

"You are _lying_." I told him quietly, looking away and out the window.

"You're being absurd."

"I thought we were friends, Edward," I sighed, "You don't have to lie to me, you know." I added, like that would help him to tell me.

Suddenly, the conversation took a turn, "You've lie to me as well, Bella." I snapped my head back around to look at him.

He was deadpan, "There's things you've hidden, but I don't try and probe you to admit them, do I?" The way he put it, it made me sound like a nuisance, which I guess I kind of was. I didn't expect his words to cut me as badly as they did. Then again, I _really _didlike him.

"I have nothing else to hide. You know everything." I lied coldly. I remembered revealing my past to him.

He laugh humorlessly, "Bella, you've got plenty to hide, but I don't ask you. I would appreciate if you wouldn't ask me about things I don't want to open up to others about either."

I felt my heart rate accelerate. He couldn't be hinting at _that _could he? There was no way he could've known. Yes, he did read my file and found out that in the_ past_ I had visions, but he'd be assuming if he thought I _still_ had them, unless . . . Esme told. I didn't want to think badly of Esme, but the possibility was there.

"You already know what I'm hiding . . . don't you?" I asked Edward feeling vulnerable.

He sighed, looking at the wall for a moment, then he looked back at me and nodded.

* * *

**So, you may be confused. Trust me, I was too. (I don't think that's a good thing . . . )**

**Anyways here's what's happened:**

**Edward discovered her file way back when, remember? Well in the car she admitted to "having" visions and coming from an institution. Edward didn't know (or Bella at least, didn't know that he knew) she still had visions until now.**

**Also, don't assume that he's going to swallow that so easily, he's skeptical.**

**If you actually read this story, um, thanks . . . **

**:)**

**Sam**


	16. The Key

**IMPORTANT: After going back and rereading part of this story, I realized that if I've referred to a Carlisle vision, that it's never been there, so I went back to Chapter 4, where the vision was suppose to happen, and added it in there, it's up to you whether you read it or not, it's basically just referring to the fact he had different colored eyes before! :) Thanks.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.**

* * *

I felt my mouth pop open and I just stared at him.

Esme _did_ tell. I tried to picture the sweet woman telling Edward this piece of juicy gossip, exactly like she said she wouldn't. I shook my head and felt overwhelmingly disgusted with the Cullens. No wonder they couldn't make any friends, they were all deceivers.

Before I could give Edward the tongue-lashing of a lifetime, Dr. Cullen came in the room. He didn't seem to notice the evident tension between Edward and me, instead he just pretended Edward wasn't even there.

"How are you feeling, Ms. Swan?" Carlisle asked me as he probed my head.

"Annoyed." I replied truthfully as I looked pointedly at Edward. Now the doctor did look at Edward for a moment, before he returned his gaze back to me.

_That wasn't necessary, Bella._

_Shut up, Bells._

He chuckled once, "I'm sorry if my son has been a bit of a pest. Sometimes he even gets on his brothers' and sisters' nerves." That was news, Edward wasn't the center of the universe at home?

Edward must have sensed that he wasn't wanted anymore, and he made his exit. He mouthed 'sorry' to me and went on his way. As soon as he was out the door, I felt some of the stress release itself from my muscles.

Dr. Cullen gave me an apologetic look, "He sometimes forgets his limits." I gave him a small half-smile. I felt funny that after all the harsh words I'd spoken to Carlisle, he still could manage to be nice to me.

"It's fine. I'm just pretty irritable after this whole situation." I found myself trying to not pin Edward as the bad guy, even though Isabella really wanted too.

The doctor just nodded and asked me a few questions about my head. Once he was satisfied with his examination, he told me I was free to go.

I made it to the hallway before my dad nearly crashed into me. I locked in shock. He was one, breaking the safety distance he was supposedly keeping and two, showing affection. Instead of focusing on the oddness of the moment, I wrapped my arms around him as well.

"Oh Bella, I thought I had lost you too." He mumbled into my hair. I felt something prick me inside, specifically when he said '_lost you too'_.

"I-I'm really sorry, Dad. It won't happen again." I told him.

I felt his lips kiss my head, "I'm sorry too, kid. About . . . you know." I nodded and his arms tightened around me. I wondered how that must feel, wanting to protect your child from anything that would harm them, but you can't because your child is harming herself.

Dad pulled away as Dr. Cullen walked to him and started explaining what had happened and my health. I told Dad I'd be right back and walked over to the bathroom to get some water when I saw Edward. He was on the phone with somebody and as I neared closer, I could hear what he was saying.

"No. NO. NO! Alice, listen to me. What you saw . . . Alice, stop talking for a moment please . . . Thank you. What you saw _isn't_ going to happen. You shouldn't act on it at _all_. Okay? ...Yes, I get it, you know you will be _best_ friends, but Bella doesn't need to be in this world, it's _too _complicated," He sighed, but then stiffened, "I have to go." He finished the phone call quickly and turned around to see me.

"Bella. Hello." Edward casually said, but there was some nervousness that was etched in his face.

"Edward. Hello," I echoed him, then I smiled a little as I said, "how is Alice?"

"She's fine, thanks for asking. Is there something you need?" I could hear some annoyance ringing in his voice.

"I actually need you to do me favor." I said more seriously.

"Sure." He sounded bored, but I knew better.

"Will you promise me not to tell anybody _else_ about my visions?" I locked on his eyes hoping my doe eyes would convince him to keep the secret.

He surprised me by snorting, "Your "visions"," he added air quotations to the word, "are safe with me, Bella."

I felt something flair up in me, "My "visions"?" I mocked his air quotes.

"Bella, the whole "I-see-dead-people" card your playing, it's so unrealistic. It's like you're ripping off some weird, science-fiction movie."

_Oh, hell no!_

He _didn't _believe me? "Then what about what happened to Charlie? How did I know _that_ was going to happen?" I felt my temper getting the best of me.

"Coincidental." He shrugged his shoulders.

"That had to be pretty, freakin' coincidental!" He rolled his eyes and was about to walk off when I made a serious connection.

"You should believe me, you know." I told him angrily.

He turned back slightly, "And why's that?" He cocked an eyebrow.

"Because, your sister has them too."

It all finally made sense. In her vision when I was her, she referred to the visions. Esme must have put her in asylum too, because she couldn't handle her daughter's "gift". I also found out that Edward knew about Alice's visions, but maybe their parents didn't know yet, because this phone call confirmed that. Besides, Edward's shocked face, pretty much said it all.

OOO

Edward still didn't believe in me about _my_ visions, but he did promise to keep the secret between me, him, . . . and Esme too. That is, unless she decides to tell more people. Edward didn't want to talk much more after I made the big discovery, in fact, he seemed more eager than ever to get away.

I found Dad back in the waiting room with a lot of my friends convincing them that I was well. When I appeared, I was tackled by hugs and even a few cheek-kisses from some good friends.

I was surprised to see Jacob there, but apparently since Dad's leg was still in a cast, he was playing chauffeur. I wondered how hilarious that must have been, seeing as Dad is a cop and Jacob was still underage and had no license.

Minutes later, Dad, Jacob, and I were on our way to somewhere, keeping up casual conversation.

"So what do you want for supper?" I asked Dad as I glanced at the clock, it was near seven, so I ran over some quick dishes I could fix.

Dad rolled his eyes, "I'm not going to make you cook, Bells. You just got out of the hospital," He looked at Jacob, "You wanna go to the diner?"

Jacob smiled in response, "Sure thing, Charlie." Next thing I knew, we were at the diner and Jacob was helping Charlie into his wheelchair.

I followed Jacob warily as he pushed Dad inside. I really hoped he wouldn't try and put any more moves on me. We got a booth near the back and Jacob pushed Charlie to the end of the table then he slid into one side, I slid into the other.

Dinner went well, until Dad decided he needed to go to the bathroom. He insisted on rolling himself there which left Jacob and me alone.

"So, you look nice." Jacob started as he smiled at me.

I laughed at him, "Really, Jake? I've got dirt on my ass." He laughed too and his eyes seemed to sparkle with happiness.

"I've missed you. I don't think I left it on the right note last time we talked." His tone turned suddenly serious.

I ran a hand through my hair, "It was a bit awkward . . . "

"A bit? Please, Bella. I acted like some sort of stalker." His honesty made me laugh again.

"Okay, maybe you did a little." I bit my lip to stop from saying anything else.

He chuckled once and shook his head, "I'm a sucker for you, pale face." I felt my stomach sink.

"I wish you weren't." I told him quietly.

"I know, but that's because you haven't opened your eyes yet." He responded, not even hesitating from my words.

"Jake, my eyes are open right now." I tried to make a joke to crack the tension, but it didn't work.

"Not like that, I mean your eyes aren't open to the possibility." He looked at me and gently took my hand.

_What is it with this guy and hands?_

"What possibility? We're friends, Jacob." I told him trying to convince him to drop this crush.

His eyes seemed to lighten that I wasn't shunning his "possibility" thing all together, "That's why we'd work, Bella! We're friends. We'd know exactly how to work together. Granted, we've missed a lot of years together we could have had, but we could make up for lost time, Bells. This _could _work." His words painted a beautiful picture, but I couldn't see myself in his future . . . I didn't see anybody in his, except for the beautiful family. I thought back to the girl named Nessie who cried over Jacob's body . . . and the bronzed-haired guy-

My heart skipped a beat.

No. That couldn't be . . . Edward? Suddenly, I found myself more confused than ever.

In the vision, Jacob was old, maybe seventy, eighty, or so on. Dr. Cullen was also in that vision, and he looked _exactly_ the same. Edward also may, or may have not been in that as well . . . if he was, he too, looked _exactly_ the same.

. . . Like they never aged.

I found myself remembering that conversation with myself in the car as Edward drove me to the hospital. Esme, Dr. Cullen, and Edward all _acted _old, but what if that wasn't it at all, what if they _were _old?

My visions weren't such a curse anymore, in fact, they were starting to seem like the key to the Cullen secret.

* * *

**Why do I always give you cliff-hangers? :D**

**I love you guys, and want to thank you all for the awesome job of reviewing this story (those of you that did . . . )! I'm sad to say, school will be starting up soon and I may have a harder time writing, but hell, who knows, I updated better when I had school, so maybe this'll work out.**

**Also, I think I may go back through the story and just fix most of the grammatical errors and spellings. I started this story on Notepad, luckily, I now have WordPerfect :) Still, I have no Beta, because honestly, WTF is a Beta (a fish, right?).**

**And yes, Cullen Freak, you are right! :)**

**I'm hoping for some more reviews before I update, maybe five? It's not that hard . . . **

**Thank you for all of you who read, review, favorite, and alert this! **

**Love,**

**Sam**


End file.
